The workers’ compensation system provides a variety of different types of benefits for which you may be eligible. Working with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney can help you understand the different types of benefits for which you may qualify.
Temporary Total
Persons who qualify for temporary total benefits are those workers who are injured and unable to work due to an on-the-job injury or occupational disease. As its name implies, temporary total disability is not permanent. It can extend for a short time or a fairly long time, however, depending on how one’s medical condition progresses. The objective of temporary total disability is to compensate someone who is removed from his/her job during the period he spends recovering from his/her injury.
Temporary total compensation is based on a few things, including the rate of compensation that you were earning at the time of the injury. In Ohio, for the first 12 weeks of missed work, a worker who who qualifies for these types of benefits will earn 72 percent of his or her income tax free. After 12 weeks, they begin to earn 2/3, or 66.667 percent, of their average income tax free. It should be noted that while these percentages apply to most injured workers, they can change if an injured worker’s wages are above or below a certain rate.
Wage Loss
There are two different circumstances in which an injured worker can qualify for wage loss benefits. The first occurs when an employee is forced to find a new lower paying job due to his/her injury. The second circumstance occurs when the employee is not allowed to work his/her normal hours due to medical restrictions from the workplace accident. In 2013, 64% of aged beneficiaries of workers’ compensation received at least half of their income from these wage loss benefits.
Permanent Total Disability
Permanent Total Disability benefits occur when an employee is deemed permanently unable to work in any capacity. An employee cannot return to work and receive this type of benefit simultaneously. Permanent Total Disability is in place for those who will not be able to return to work due to the accident or illness that occurred on the job.
The aforementioned benefits are just a few in a long list of different types, and the descriptions just skim the surface. To understand these options further, you will need to work with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.
At The Harris Firm, we want to help you to understand the different options within the workers’ compensation system and to get you through it as well. The lawyers at The Harris Firm know how to navigate this complex system. We want to help you receive the compensation and benefits that you deserve. Contact us today to get started.