When I first started to practice Workers’ Compensation Law in 1970 the most any individual could receive for lost wages as a result of a work injury was $60 per week. Now it is $932 per week. What a difference 44 years makes. However, Workers’ Compensation insurance carriers because of the increase in benefits contest many more claims and to a much greater degree.

Testimony of doctors are taken in order to prove or disprove that the injury is work-related and that the injury still exists and that it prevents the injured worker from working.

The Workers’ Compensation Judge then determines the credibility of the injured worker, witnesses and doctors.

Concerning credibility a common theme that I see running through my cases are comments by my injured workers clients that “I am not like all those others. I did get injured and seriously so.” The facts do bear out that my clients’ injuries whether it is a herniated disc, broken bone, concussion, a blown out knee or myriads of other injuries are not something that my client would be making up.

I see that often the public has the same perception that injured workers are not really injured. They should only see and talk to my clients who have no income because they cannot work, have difficulty paying their medical bills and cannot support their families. But that everyone in this country (though I wish it on no one) would suffer a work injury, they wouldn’t be so quick to think that others are malingering. In fact the amount that do so are extremely small. However, as the old saying goes, “put a drop of ink in a glass of water and whole thing turns black.” Likewise, one or two people who try to game the system make it all that much more difficult for everyone else. That just means that the truly injured worker has a harder road to hoe but justice usually prevails but not without a lot of hard work.

If you are an injured worker and you’ve been disabled as a result of your accident, you are probably receiving temporary total disability (TTD) benefits.  Those benefits are intended to compensate you for the wages that you’ve lost because of your injury.  TTD benefits are, by far, the most common type of benefits that are paid to injured workers in Pennsylvania.

However, there is another type of benefit available to some injured workers.  “Specific loss benefits” are payable to injured workers who have had a body part amputated or completely lost the use of a body part.  The body part at issue could be as small as part of a finger or as large as an arm or leg.  Unlike TTD benefits, specific loss benefits are NOT intended to compensate an injured worker for wages that he/she has lost.  Instead, specific loss benefits are designed to compensate the injured worker for the loss of his/her body part.  As a result, an injured worker could be entitled to a substantial sum of benefits even if that injured worker missed only a minimal time from work – or even no work at all. 

Specific loss benefits are also payable to injured workers who, as a result of their injuries, have permanent, unsightly scars on their heads, necks, or faces.  In many cases, injured workers can receive benefits for scarring years after they were injured, recovered, and returned to work.  Many injured workers even receive specific loss benefits for scars resulting from surgeries, such as cervical fusions, that were necessitated by work injuries.  

If I could have one wish, it would be that, whenever someone was hurt at work they would call an attorney immediately. Because, even the simplest case can become complex without warning, and, the longer one goes without a lawyer, the more complex a case can become. People often think that they do not need a lawyer because their case is simple: I broke my leg at work, of course my employer will take care of my bills and time off. Yes a case can be that simple, but that does not mean your employer or their insurance carrier will do the right thing.

With any job, people often ask, what is the best part? No one asks what is the worst part? The worst part of being an attorney is having to break the news to clients that logic and common sense have no place in the law. This was the first lesson I learned when I began practicing, and it comes up in every case, with every client.

Whether it is explaining to a client how an Independent Medical Exam can actually harm the claim. Or that if you can return to work in some capacity, even at drastically reduced wages, you will be limited to 500 weeks of lost wages benefits. Or that, yes you are entitled to indemnity benefits for your lost wages, all the other benefits you earned, like health insurance for your family are gone.

Some attorneys say, “When in doubt call a lawyer.” I wish they would call an attorney doubt or no doubt.