Yellin & Hyman: Personal Injury Law in Massachsetts

How You May Win A Lump Sum Settlement With Workers’ Compensation Benefits

If you are collecting workers’ compensation benefits, there is the possibility that you can end up with a settlement of your case. This is what is referred to as a lump sum settlement because you would be receiving an amount now instead of potentially receiving weekly disability benefits into the future. Whether you are receiving partial disability workers’ compensation benefits or total disability workers’ compensation benefits, or are presently not receiving any disability benefits at all but have the potential of doing so, you and the insurance company can reach an agreement that pays you a certain amount of money in exchange for your not collecting any more weekly disability checks.

 What is a Reasonable Amount for a Lump Sum Settlement and How Does it Work For You?

  As a lump sum settlement is totally voluntary (meaning that neither you nor the insurance company can force the other to enter into a settlement of your workers’ compensation claim); the amount of the settlement is whatever amount you and the insurance company can agree upon. However, what is considered a fair and reasonable settlement depends on several factors such as: • the amount of your weekly disability benefits • the severity of your injury and how it effects your ability to work (along with the opinions of the doctors on those matters)

. What is the Process That Enables You to Claim Your Workers’ Compensation Settlement?

A lump sum settlement is obtained through negotiations between your attorney and the attorney or adjuster for the insurance company. If both you and the insurance company can agree on the amount of the settlement (the employer who you were working for when you got injured must also agree on the amount), then the terms of the settlement must be presented to a judge at the Department of Industrial Accidents for approval. The judge has the responsibility of determining if the settlement is in your best interest. Will the Insurance Company Continue to Pay for Your Treatment After a Lump Sum Settlement? The answer is Yes, in most but not all cases.

Since you are entering into a lump sum settlement of your workers’ compensation claim, it does not affect the insurance company’s responsibility for payment of future medical treatment of your work-related injuries. What does terminate is your right to receive any further weekly disability checks after the date that the judge approves the settlement agreement. Settlement of a workers’ compensation case is an important step and the timing on when to do so can be critical. The attorneys at Yellin & Hyman have obtained substantial lump sum settlements for many of our workers’ compensation clients. Contact us today to discuss all of the pros and cons of resolving your claim by way of a lump sum settlement to ensure that it is in fact in your best interest to do so. Yellin & Hyman, PC handles all types of matters relating to Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Disability and Personal Injury claims.

 Yellin & Hyman, PC www.yellin-hyman.com 1259 Hyde Park Avenue 693 E. Central Street Suite 128 Suite 201 Hyde Park, MA 02136 Franklin, MA 02038 (617) 361-5310 (508) 528-8885

How Working A Second Job Effects Your Workers’ Compensation Claim

Most people understand that a worker who is injured on the job is entitled to be paid disability for the wages that he is losing as a result of being unable to work due to his injuries.

But, what if that worker had another job (what is referred to as concurrent employment) at the time of his accident?  How would the injured worker be properly compensated for the lost wages that occur when he had a second job?

Your Compensation is Based Upon
 The Calculation of the Average Weekly Wage

 

The Massachusetts workers’ compensation law provides that an injured worker is compensated for lost wages based upon the worker’s average weekly wage.

An average weekly wage is determined by calculating the wages that the worker earned during the 52 weeks (or for however many weeks worked if less than 52 weeks) prior to the day of the accident. 

If that worker had a second job at the time of the accident, those wages may be added to the wages earned at the job at which the worker was injured in order to come up with the average weekly wage. 

Calculation of Total Disability Benefits

For example, if the employee earned $500.00 at the job on which he was injured and an additional $300.00 at another job, the average weekly wage would be $800.00.  The injured worker would therefore be entitled to receive weekly workers’ compensation total disability checks in the amount of $480.00 as the law provides that total disability compensation is 60% of the employee’s average weekly wage.

Calculation of Partial Disability Benefits

Suppose in our example that the injured employee is able to return to the job on which he had the accident at the same amount of pay as before but is not able to return to the concurrent job. The injured worker would then be able to receive partial disability benefits.

As he would be losing $300.00 per week in income he could be compensated by receiving $180.00 ($300.00 x 60%) per week in partial disability benefits. The same would be true if he was able to return to his concurrent job but not the one on which he was injured, but in that case he would be losing $500.00 in income and could be compensated by receiving $300.00 ($500.00 x 60%) per week in workers’ compensation partial disability benefits.

Many issues may arise in a workers’ compensation claim. Even determining the average weekly wage and disability compensation rate can prove to be complicated, especially when concurrent wages are involved.

The Attorneys at Yellin Hyman have vast knowledge of the workers’ compensation law and can be at your side to help guide you through the complicated issues of your workers’ compensation claim.

Be certain to call us since we specialize in accidents in the workplace. Our firm handles all types of matters relating to Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Disability and Personal Injury claims. Yellin and Hyman has an unprecedented record for winning higher claims for our clients. Call Us Today.

Yellin & Hyman, PC

www.yellin-hyman.com

1259 Hyde Park Avenue                693 E. Central Street

Suite 128                                           Suite 201

Hyde Park, MA 02136                     Franklin, MA 02038

(617) 361-5310                                 (508) 528-8885

Does Workers’ Compensation Cover Non-Work Related Injuries that Result From a Work-Related-Injury

By Richard Hyman

Yellin & Hyman, PC
Franklin, MA

Hyde Park, MA

It is easy to understand how an employee would be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for an injury received at work. If the employee’s back is injured from a heavy lifting incident or if a bone is broken due to a fall off of a ladder, clearly that injured worker should expect to be paid workers’ compensation benefits. But what if that employee then suffers another injury, either physical or mental, that did not occur on the job but was related in some way to the original injury?

Relating a Subsequent Injury to The One that Occurred at Work

As long as there is a connection between the original work injury and a subsequent, different medical condition, all matters concerning that condition (such as medical treatment, entitlement to disability benefits) should also be covered under workers’ compensation. Examples are injuring your back due to a fall which resulted from a bad knee that was injured at work; getting an infection due to a surgical procedure to repair a work-related injury; and needing treatment for addiction to pain medication that was prescribed following a back injury at work.

As another example, Yellin & Hyman, PC had a client who was receiving pool therapy following neck surgery that resulted from an accident at work. During one of her pool therapy sessions, she injured her shoulder while attempting to get out of the pool. 

Yellin & Hyman, PC filed a claim for her shoulder injury and, because the injury to her shoulder occurred as a direct result of her getting treatment for the work-related neck injury, the judge at the Department of Industrial Accidents ordered that the workers’ compensation insurance company was now also responsible for her treatment and any disability resulting from her shoulder injury.

A Mental Condition Resulting From A Physical Injury

It is fairly common that someone who has been out of work for an extended time may develop depression and anxiety due to being in chronic pain, having concerns about finances and uncertainty about the future. If it can be established that this mental condition resulted from the physical injury that happened at work, then the workers’ compensation insurance company would also be responsible for that mental condition.  This could mean paying for prescription drugs and counseling sessions as well as disability payments if the depression and/or anxiety are serious enough to cause mental impairments that interfere with the ability to perform work duties.

What is and what is not a workers’ compensation injury can sometimes be difficult to determine, and is even more so when the injury did not occur at work but has a relationship to the injury that did occur at work. It is always wise to have an experienced workers’ compensation attorney at your side to help guide you through your workers’ compensation claim.

Yellin & Hyman, PC handles all types of matters relating to Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Disability and Personal Injury claims.

Yellin & Hyman, PC

www.yellin-hyman.com

1259 Hyde Park Avenue                    693 E. Central Street

Suite 128                                             Suite 201

Hyde Park, MA 02136                       Franklin, MA 02038

(617) 361-5310                                   (508) 528-8885

Yellin & Hyman, PC: Boston Law firm specializing in Divorce-Personal Injury-Disability and Workers Comp

Yellin & Hyman, PC: Boston Law firm specializing in Divorce-Personal Injury-Disability and Workers Comp: Yellin & Hyman, PC: Boston Law firm specializing in Divorce-Personal Injury-Disability and Workers Comp

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Yellin-Hyman, PC Boston-Franklin, Hyde Park, MA Attorneys

Yellin-Hyman, PC

Yellin Hyman Boston-Franklin-Hyde Park, MA Attorneys

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