Wage Loss & Total Disability
Getting justice from a Pennsylvania workers compensation requires aggressive Chester County workers compensation lawyers who fight for victims of work injury and are experienced at representing them at the Chester County workers compensation hearing office in Malvern PA. Contact Ciccarelli Law Offices when you are suffering from a total disability caused by a work related accident. Contact us 24/7 at (610) 692-8700.
Where a work injury or occupational disease has kept you from working and you have suffered a wage loss, you are entitled to wage loss benefits for either total or partial disability. Wage loss benefits for total disability are payable when, as a result of a work injury or occupational disease, you are unable to perform your regular job and the employer has not made alternative work that you can perform available to you.
Wage loss benefits for total disability are subject to a weekly cap which increases every year (the state wide maximum weekly compensation benefit for 2000 is $611.00 per week). Wage loss benefits for total disability are payable for as long as you are unable to perform your regular job or other work that is actually available to you.
Wage loss benefits: partial disability
If you are unable to perform your regular job due to your work injury or occupationally related disease but are able to perform other work within your physical limitations, but for less pay, you are entitled to partial disability benefits. Wage loss benefits for partial disability are calculated by taking two thirds of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and your weekly earnings after the injury or disease.
Wage loss benefits for partial disability are payable for a period of 500 weeks (nine years, forty weeks). In calculating the partial disability rate, lost overtime should always be considered.
Any employee injured after June 24, 1996 who is receiving total disability for two years (104 weeks) is required to submit to a medical exam at the request of the employer within 60 days in order to determine degree of impairment. The degree of impairment is determined by a doctor chosen by agreement of the parties or designated by the Department of Labor. The determination of the degree of impairment is made pursuant to the American Medical Association “Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.”
If impairment is found to be 50 percent or less of total body impairment, then the employee shall receive partial disability for a period of 500 weeks. In cases of partial disability, the earning power of the individual will be determined, following an interview by a vocational expert selected by the employer. Partial disability applies if the individual can engage in some type of “substantial gainful employment” as determined by the vocational expert regardless of whether or not a specific job vacancy exists, or whether the individual would be hired. The employee on partial disability would have his compensation reduced by two-thirds of the difference between his time of injury wage and what is determined to be his earning power.
At the request of the employer, any individual may be required to submit to no more than two independent medical examinations per year. An employer may show, at any time prior to or during the period of partial disability, that the employee’s earning power has changed with the result that the compensation would be modified. The employee would have the right to appeal the change to partial disability, and total disability benefits would be continued until it is agreed, or adjudicated, that the employee’s condition has improved to an impairment rating of less than 50 percent. Partial disability cannot exceed 500 weeks regardless of the changes of disability that may occur thereafter as long as the impairment rating is less than 50 percent.
Contact Ciccarelli Law Offices
Our promise: You need a Pennsylvania workers compensation lawyer who understands the seriousness of your Chester County workers compensation claim and will give it to you straight. You do not expect guarantees but you need a lawyer that you can trust to fight for you and your family to the fullest extent of the law. Our Chester County workers compensation legal team promises to work for you; be thorough and aggressive in setting out the best strategies for you and your loved ones.
We accept Pennsylvania workers compensation claims on a contingency fee basis; which means that we do not require an advance fee, retainer or hourly rate but base our fee on a percentage of the monetary settlement we earn for you. Call Us 24/7 at (610) 692-8700. Learn how we will work toward the result you need.
We serve individuals and their families injured at work and seeking workers compensation benefits throughout Chester County and the greater Philadelphia Pennsylvania region including but not limited to: West Chester, Downingtown, Coatesville, Phoenixville, Parkesburg, Kennett Square, Oxford, Malvern, and in Philadelphia, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, Lancaster County, Berks County, and Northampton County in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Lancaster, Levittown, Media, Norristown, Philadelphia, Pottstown, Pottsville, Reading, West Chester, Willow Grove, and a Philadelphia workers compensation attorney.
When you have are seeking a monetary settlement of your workers compensation Pennsylvania, you need justice; and you need a top Chester County workers compensation lawyer with years of experience winning the tough cases: contact Lee Ciccarelli and Pennsylvania Workers Compensation team today. Call 24/7 at (610) 692-8700.