What Kind Of Workers' Compensation Will I Get If My Case Is Established?

Workers' Benefit Compensation insurance is designed to compensate an injured worker (referred to as the "claimant") in two ways:

• Payment of medical expenses for injuries caused by the work-related accident or occupational illness or injury.
• Payment for part of a claimant's lost wages (either due to lost time from work or reduced earnings while back to work light duty) up to a maximum permitted by law.

The amount of a claimant's payments depends on both the claimant's average earnings at the time of the accident and the claimant's degree of disability. An additional award for residual permanent loss of function of an extremity (hands, arms, feet, legs) may be awarded after a claimant has reached maximum medical improvement from their injuries and has finished active treatment. This is known as schedule loss of use. Since a Workers Compensation claim is not a lawsuit, there are no payments for an injured worker's pain and suffering.