Understanding Your Benefits After A Workplace Injury

After suffering an injury on the job in South Georgia, workers are entitled to receive paid medical benefits through their employer’s workers’ compensation plan. If the injury is serious enough to require time off of work during the recovery period, there are three levels of income benefits that are also available to help cover the loss of wages and earnings.

Income benefits are equal to two-thirds of your average weekly pay, looking back over the 13-week period prior to your injury. The benefits are paid weekly but will not start until your second week following your accident, so take into account the week of lost pay.

Benefits are broken down into three categories and you can move from one category to the next, depending upon your level of injury or disability. You will only qualify for one category of income benefits at a time.

• Temporary total disability (TTD): These benefits are paid for the period of time you were unable to work during your medical recovery. Paid at two-thirds of your average weekly pay and you may receive these benefits until your workers’ compensation doctor has signed off that you have reached full-duty work status.
• Temporary partial disability (TPD): Benefits paid when you return to work a reduced capacity or light-duty. If your pay earnings are reduced, you will be paid two-thirds of the difference between your average weekly wage and actual earnings. In other words, if your previous pay was $20/hour and your reduced pay falls to $10/hour, your TPD benefits will pay you $6.66 per hour (two-thirds of the $10 reduction).
• Permanent partial disability (PPD): Money paid for your partial disability, based on a schedule of disabilities published annually by the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation.

Why Hire A Lawyer?

Most injured workers receive medical benefits without too much argument from their employer, but often with a delay. Most of the negotiations in a workers’ compensation case will involve a dispute about the income benefits you are entitled to under the Workers’ Compensation Act.

It is important to hire an experienced lawyer to fight for a maximum settlement. The insurance company will offer you a low, quick settlement. Once you take the money, there is no option for seeking more compensation in the event you discover the settlement isn’t sufficient to cover your injury and financial losses.

Free Consultation · You Don’t Pay If You Don’t Receive Income Benefits

Call the law offices of Steven L. Morgan, P.C., in Brunswick, Georgia, to learn more about workers’ compensation benefits you are entitled to under the Workers’ Compensation Act. I offer a free consultation and charge no money upfront to help you negotiate a full and fair settlement. My fee comes from the lump-sum payment you receive from the settlement. Call me at 912-289-0640 or send an email with a brief description of your workplace injury.