Some people suffer an injury at work, receive medical attention and are back to work in a day or two. These injured workers are eligible for a medical-only workers’ compensation claim, but what if your injury keeps you out of work for an extended period of time? What are your legal options, and what steps should you take? In today’s blog, we explain what you should do if you can’t work following an on-the-job injury.
Unable To Work After Work Injury
Most moderate and severe work injuries can knock you out of work for an extended period, and even relatively minor injuries can keep you out for three work days, which is an important time period because Minnesota follows the Three Day Rule. Essentially, it states that an individual is ineligible to collect wage loss benefits until they’ve missed three calendar days of work because of their work-related injury.
Given the nature of this blog, let’s assume that you meet this threshold. After missing three calendar days of work, you’re eligible for wage loss benefits for missed days 4-9. After 10 days, you’re still eligible for wage loss benefits, but you can also collect benefits for those first three days that you missed. It’s essential that you file a wage loss claim if you’ve missed at least three calendar days of work, and our recommendation is that you sync up with a workers’ compensation lawyer to assist with this process. Sometimes calculating your average weekly pay amount is easy, which is required for wage loss benefit amount determination, but other times it’s much more difficult because a worker regularly has overtime or doesn’t always work the same amount of hours each week. Let us figure out exactly how much you’re owed so you’re not underpaid.
What If I Can’t…
Many clients have questions related to workers’ compensation that start with the phrase in the heading, so we’re going to jump into a Q&A section below to talk about some other scenarios where you’re forced out of work due to a work injury.
What if I can’t ever return to the workforce?
The unfortunate reality is that some work injuries are so severe that a worker will not be able to return to gainful employment. In these situations, you’ll want to work with an attorney to collect Permanent Total Disability benefits.
What if I can’t return to my old job?
The goal of workers’ compensation is to provide workers with a safety net in the event of an injury and help them return to gainful employment. If you’re not going to be able to return to your old position after a work accident, your lawyer can help you connect with a Qualified Rehabilitation Consultant. QRCs are wonderful, and they specialize in helping injured workers reenter the workforce. They can help in a number of different ways, including:
- Connecting you with retraining opportunities
- Resume and job searching assistance
- Interview preparation
- Job placement
- Working with your doctor to write work restrictions
- Vocational evaluations
- Job modifications
Additionally, injured workers may be eligible for compensation if they can showcase a need to pursue additional schooling or certification in order to rejoin the workforce. Again, your lawyer can help facilitate the pursuit of these benefits.
What if I can’t do all the same job tasks once I’ve recovered?
Depending on your situation, you may be able to return to work with job restrictions in place. Your doctor can write physical restrictions in your medical report, and your QRC can work with your employer to ensure your return to work is as normal as possible within these restrictions.
What if I can’t make the same amount of money after a work injury?
You are eligible for compensation to offset a reduced earnings capacity or a reduced future earnings potential. Winning these benefits isn’t always easy, so you guessed it, we recommend that you bring in an expert to pursue this type of claim.
If you’re set to miss some time at work because of a work injury, protecting your family and your finances is a must, and the best way to do that is by connecting with an injury firm that knows how to not only win a claim, but maximize your payout. The team at Hey Workers has been doing that for clients for years, and we can do the same for you. Give us a call today at (844) 439-9675.
