PA Workers Compensation Fast Facts: I’m Hurt and Can’t Work…Now What? By: Kevin J. McGarrey, Esq.

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It’s no surprise that many Pennsylvanians are injured each year in work related accidents. It’s shocking that in most cases neither the injured employee nor his employer have the faintest clue as to what to do next. The employee (Claimant) isn’t aware of his rights nor is the employer (Defendant).

If both sides are aware of the proper procedures to follow, the injury is usually treated, benefits paid and the Claimant would be back to work with no hard feelings. Unfortunately, in many instances, both the Claimant and Defendant botch their responsibilities at the outset and a simple work injury festers into a complicated court case with hard feelings all around.

Let’s go through the steps that should be followed on both sides:

1. Report Report Report:

A Claimant must report his injury as soon as possible. When reported, quickly, a “date of loss” can be established for the sake of the workers compensation claim. Quick reporting also engenders a feeling of sympathy from the Defendant rather than the mistrust and suspicion that can arise after reporting an injury many days after it has occurred.

What is a “report”?

Mentioning that you fell off a ladder to your buddy in the break-room does not suffice as reporting. The Claimant must report his injury to his supervisor or someone in authority at your company. Your report can’t just say that you were injured; it has to let the employer know that you were injured in the course of your employment.

What is “Quickly”?

You really should report any injury, no matter how mundane, immediately or as soon as you can. From the legal side, a Claimant should report his injury within 21 days of the occurrence and must report his injury within 120 days of the occurrence or risk having his rights to recover stripped from him.

2. Defendant’s Responsibility

So, you’ve reported your injury the day after it happened; what next? You employer is required to immediately report all employee injuries to his workers compensation insurance carrier. He also must file a report of injury with the Department of Labor within 48 hours after every injury resulting in death (hopefully this is not your injury!), and after seven days but within ten days after the date of injury for all other injuries which result in disability lasting more than a day, shift or turn of work. 34 Pa.Code § 121.5.

Within 21 days from the date the employee provides notification of an injury, the employer or its insurance carrier must either accept liability for the injury and issue a Notice of Compensation Payable or a Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable, or must issue a Notice of Workers’ Compensation Denial explaining why the claim was denied.

If the claim is accepted, the employer and its insurance carrier must also determine the employee’s pre-injury average weekly wage and resulting compensation rate, so that the employee can be paid the correct amount of compensation benefits under the Act. If the employer fails to either accept or deny the injury within 21 days of having notice of the injury, it can be liable for penalties if the employee must file a claim petition with the Bureau.

As you can see, early reporting has started us on the path to a smooth resolution of the Claimant’s claim.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Kevin is the writer of “PA Workers Compensation Fast Facts: I’m Hurt and Can’t Work…Now What?”www.pacomplawyers.com/”>Philadelphia Workers

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