Lost Wages in Port St. Lucie
Located in the heart of Florida’s Treasure Coast, Port St. Lucie is a growing city that features a wide variety of industries. The town is famous for its golf courses and as the home of a Major League Baseball spring training camp. The most common types of occupations held by Port St. Lucie residents are sales and office administration jobs. Restaurant industry positions are also common, due to the area’s status as a popular tourist destination. The diversity of jobs offered in the region make Port St. Lucie a wonderful place to live, but it also increases the odds of becoming injured in an on-the-job accident. At Donaldson & Weston, our Port St. Lucie workers’ compensation lawyers have provided diligent legal counsel to injured workers throughout the area, and we are ready to help you fight for the lost wages and medical benefits that you deserve.
Establish Your Right to Lost Wages After a Job Injury
The workers’ compensation system provides injured workers with compensation for a number of expenses associated with their work-related injury. One of the biggest stresses that injured workers face is a reduction in their income while they recuperate. To offset this, the workers’ compensation system provides a weekly benefit payment intended to compensate an employee for lost wages. The amount of this payment and the duration of the payment are calculated based on the nature and scope of the injury. To assert your right to this payment, you must first notify your employer that you have suffered a work-related injury. This can be a sudden injury like a car accident on the job, or it can be an injury that arises over time from repetitive work, like carpal tunnel syndrome.
After the insurance carrier opens a file for your claim, you will be asked to undergo a medical examination with an approved health care professional. The doctor will then determine whether your injury is permanent or temporary and whether it is total or partial. In many situations, partial disability benefits are provided when the employee’s injury is expected to heal in the near future. For more severe accidents that result in total and permanent disabilities, the worker will typically receive a larger weekly benefit allotment, particularly if the worker cannot even perform light duty work as a result of the injury.
Determining the amount of benefits that you will receive on a weekly basis is largely based on a statutory formula created by Florida’s workers’ compensation laws. Our attorneys can explain how it may work in your situation. In general, you will receive two-thirds of your average weekly wage, with the payments beginning on the eighth day that you are injured and unable to work. If you remain unable to work as a result of the injury for 21 days or longer, you will be provided compensation for the first seven days that you were out of work. In situations involving severe injuries, your weekly benefits may constitute 80 percent of your average weekly wage.
The duration of payments is capped at 104 weeks, or until your medical provider determines that you have reached the point of maximum medical improvement. This is the point at which there is no further medical treatment that would improve your condition. If your injury is not resolved at this point, or your doctor determines that your temporary injury is actually a permanent injury, you may be eligible to receive additional forms of benefits like Social Security Disability.
After the insurance carrier opens a file for your claim, you will be asked to undergo a medical examination with an approved health care professional. The doctor will then determine whether your injury is permanent or temporary and whether it is total or partial. In many situations, partial disability benefits are provided when the employee’s injury is expected to heal in the near future. For more severe accidents that result in total and permanent disabilities, the worker will typically receive a larger weekly benefit allotment, particularly if the worker cannot even perform light duty work as a result of the injury.
Determining the amount of benefits that you will receive on a weekly basis is largely based on a statutory formula created by Florida’s workers’ compensation laws. Our attorneys can explain how it may work in your situation. In general, you will receive two-thirds of your average weekly wage, with the payments beginning on the eighth day that you are injured and unable to work. If you remain unable to work as a result of the injury for 21 days or longer, you will be provided compensation for the first seven days that you were out of work. In situations involving severe injuries, your weekly benefits may constitute 80 percent of your average weekly wage.
The duration of payments is capped at 104 weeks, or until your medical provider determines that you have reached the point of maximum medical improvement. This is the point at which there is no further medical treatment that would improve your condition. If your injury is not resolved at this point, or your doctor determines that your temporary injury is actually a permanent injury, you may be eligible to receive additional forms of benefits like Social Security Disability.
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