New York City | Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
Workplace injuries are a common occurrence in the United States—statistics gathered by the federal government in 2016 found that more than 2.8 million people were treated for workplace injuries that year. When you’ve been hurt on the job in New York, you have the right to seek compensation for your losses, including wages and income and unreimbursed medical expenses. But are you only eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if your injury makes it impossible for you to work at all? The answer is no.
The Different Types of Workplace Injury Classifications
For purposes of workers’ compensation, there are couple different ways you can be classified—temporarily or permanently disabled, and totally or partially disabled. If you have a work injury that temporarily keeps you from working in any capacity, and your workers’ compensation claim is approved, you will be entitled to benefits until you either return to work or have reached “maximum medical improvement MMI).”
If, at the time you have been determined by an approved doctor to have reached MMI, and you still cannot work at all, you can seek benefits for permanent total disability. Those benefits will typically be payable until you are able to return to work (and possibly for the rest of your life, if your injury means you can never work again).
If you reach maximum medical improvement, but there is some residual disability that does not keep you from working, you may be deemed permanently partially disabled. It that determination is made, you may be entitled to a schedule loss or a non-schedule loss. Schedule losses are those that are found on a schedule of conditions set forth under the workers’ compensation program. The schedule identifies the number of weeks of benefits you can receive for any permanent partial disability. All other losses are considered non-schedule losses.
Can You Only Recover Workers’ Compensation If You Can’t Work At All?
Experienced NYC | Brooklyn | Bronx | Queens Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
At Pyrros & Serres LLP, we handle all matters related to workers’ compensation and Social Security disability claims for people in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and across the greater New York City metropolitan area. Because of our reputation for effective advocacy, many of our new clients come to us as referrals from clients and other lawyers.
To learn more about the full scope of our practice, see our practice area overview page.
