If you’re injured on the job, you are entitled to benefits, including medical care, lost wages, and more.
Business owners are responsible for your health and safety while you are working for them, and workers’ compensation insurance is part of the deal. This insurance is a compromise between the employee and the employer. You don’t have to prove negligence to receive benefits, which include medical treatment, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.
Nonmedical damages — usually referred to as pain and suffering — are not available.
If your injury or disease arose in the course of your employment, you most likely won’t have any problems filing your claim.
To determine how much you should be receiving under workers’ compensation, you must first compute your average weekly wage. This is an average of the highest 39 weeks of the 52 weeks preceding your work injury. If you have worked less than 39 weeks, you must divide the total amount that you have earned by the total weeks you have worked.
Include all overtime, premium pay, and bonuses in your calculation. You may also be able to include other lost benefits, like the value of health insurance, to increase the average weekly wage. The weekly lost wage benefit cannot exceed a maximum set by law each year, which is $921 for 2019.
If you return to work after your injury, but you earn less than you did at the time of your injury, you will receive partial benefits to account for your loss of earning power. These benefits are 80% of the difference in your wages, subject to the same maximum mentioned above.
Your lost-wage benefits, by law, must start no later than 14 days after your employer has notice of your disability.
You can sometimes increase your average weekly rate if you were working a second job. A Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Livonia can help you with these calculations and substantially increase your after-tax weekly wages.
If your injuries are severe, and you’re facing long-term disability — or if your employer’s insurance company is questioning your claim — you should find help.
An Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Livonia from Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C., will be happy to meet with you at your convenience for a free consultation.
Contact us today at 866-MICH-LAW and let us help you get compensation for your work-related injury.