You should be getting your workers' compensation benefits

Q. I injured myself on the job and have been on workman's comp since April[.] The [doctor] said I could do light duty but my job said they had no light duty for me [and] to stay on workman's comp but this week I recieved no check and can't get anyone to talk to me[.] [A]ll I get is voice mail and no one ever calls. Can they just stop paying me? [A]nd if they can doesn't my job have to provide something for me? I can't go find a job as long as I'm on workman's comp and I can't afford to not work. [C]an you help me?

A. You’re correct in believing that you should eitherget light duty work from your employer, or you should continue to receive workers’ compensation benefits. You should most definitely consult with a workers’ compensation attorney in your State to pursue this because you do have rights under the workers’ compensation law.

In addition, I’m going to give you a little background that, with any luck, will help you decide what else you may want to do. Remember as you read this that each state has its own laws in this area, so some procedures and legal concepts may be applied differently. That’s why you should consult with a workers’ compensation attorney in your state.

If you’re hurt on the job, you’re entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, the theory being that employers are required to bear the cost of work-related injuries as a part of the cost of doing business. The workers’ compensation laws in this country are designed to protect employers from the cost and expense of defending negligence lawsuits filed by their employees for such claims while at the same time affording protection to employees by providing for relatively swift and sure compensation for their work-related injuries.

If you are temporarily, but totally, unable to work as a result of a work-related injury, you are entitled to temporary disability benefits under the workers’ compensation law. Once you are able to resume work, your right to those temporary disability benefits ends. Obviously, an employer is interested in getting you back to work as soon as possible so that it (or its insurance carrier) no longer has to pay those benefits. You, on the other hand, want to make sure you’re sufficiently healed that you can resume your work without risking any additional injury.

“Light duty” is a concept that has developed to get you back to work sooner, rather than later. A doctor will release you to “light duty” so that you can return to work, thereby ending the employer’s obligation to pay temporary disability benefits. In most cases, if the employer has “light duty” work available for you, you have to take it and return to work. If, on the other hand, the employer has no light duty work available, you should not return to work because the workers’ compensation law does not obligate you to attempt to do work that you are physically unable to do. In such cases, your temporary disability benefits should continue. (This sounds like your case.)

If you are only capable of performing light duty work, and your employer has no light duty work available, you should still receive temporary disability benefits until you are: 1) able to resume regular duty, 2) your employer makes light duty work available to you, or 3) it is determined that you are as healed as you are going to get (which is called “maximum medical recovery,” or some similar appelation). Once you reach either of these plateaus, your employer can then terminate your temporary disability benefits, even if you are not back to 100% of what you were before the injury.

If you’re as healed up as you’re going to get, and you’re not as good as you once were, then you can file a claim under the workers’ compensation law for permanent total, or permanent partial, disability, depending on how badly you are still injured. A permanent total disability is just what it says, and means you are unable to work. You would be entitled to the maximum benefits allowed under your state’s workers’ compensation law for a permanant total disability. On the other hand, a permanent partial disability means that whatever injury you have only partially affects your ability to work. Your state’s workers’ compensation system has a procedure under which the nature and extent of your permanent partial disability is assessed and, if appropriate, an award of some benefits is made to you.

In all of these cases, you would be well served to consult with a workers’ compensation attorney. He or she can fully advise you of your rights under your state’s compensation laws and prosecute a claim on your behalf, if one is warranted. Good luck.