Can I Recover Lost Wages?

CAN I RECOVER LOST WAGES?

NEW ORLEANS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INDEMNITY BENEFITS

The attorneys at Mitchell & Associates make sure you get the lost wages payments you deserve.

Recovering Lost Wages When You’re Too Hurt To Work^TM

When a workplace injury has forced you off the job, you’re dealing with health problems, medical treatment and a loss of income. You can’t get paid if you can’t work.

This could be one of the hardest times you’ve ever faced financially. It’s natural to be scared.

One of the main forms of workers’ compensation, indemnity benefits, is designed to give you relief.

Indemnity benefits replace some of your lost wages. You get a check in the mail every week. The weekly checks help keep you financially stable, so you can move forward with your life after your injury.

To be sure you get all the indemnity benefits you’re entitled to after you were hurt at work, call Mitchell & Associates today.

How Much of Your Lost Wages Are Covered?

A common misconception among workers is that they will get 100% of their lost wages under workers’ comp.

But that’s not what happens.

This is what indemnity benefits cover:

• About two-thirds of your wages
• Up to a limit of $650 a week (in 2017 in Louisiana)

The workers’ comp system uses the last four weeks of wages you earned before your incident to determine the amount of your indemnity benefits.

You can see that if you earned higher wages, you will need to brace for a significant reduction in your weekly income under indemnity benefits.

How Long Do Indemnity Benefits Last?

You should get indemnity benefits no later than two weeks after you reported your injury to your boss.

Important:

To get your workers’ comp claim started, make sure to report your injury right away. You have a 30-day deadline after the date of your incident.

Your lost wages benefits should last as long as your doctor says you cannot work because of your workplace injury.

You get indemnity benefits when you fit into these categories:

• Temporary Total Disability (TTD)
  is the most common kind of indemnity benefit. Under TTD, your injuries are bad enough that you cannot work at all for a period of time. You get these until your doctor says you can work again.
• Supplemental Earning Benefits (SEB) cover you if you can still work but your injury has left you with a long-term disability. Under SEB, you get benefits to help make up for the drop in your earning power for up to 10 years.
• Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) sends you payments if you suffer a permanent anatomical loss to the body part you injured in the accident.
• Permanent Total Disability (PTD) pays benefits when your injury was so severe that you can never work again. You should receive workers’ comp benefits indefinitely.
• Death Benefits pays you when an immediate member of your family died in a workplace accident. The workers’ comp system has a formula to determine how much family members receive.

Besides indemnity benefits, the other types of workers’ comp cover your health care resulting from your injury and possible job retraining.

If you’ve been hurt at work, Mitchell & Associates will provide an initial assessment of your situation for free.