Unemployment Comp or Workers Comp—What should you be collecting
PA Unemployment Comp or PA Workers Comp.
What should you be collecting?
When an employee is injured and considering whether to file for PA Unemployment Comp or PA Workers Comp, the following scenario plays out all too often:
Employee: Hey boss, I’ve been running this jack hammer every day for the last three months and its killing my shoulder and arm.
Employer: You just need a rest. Once we shut down for the winter you can go on unemployment comp and then come back in the spring.
Employee: But my doc says I may need surgery.
Employer: Perfect. Get it taken care of over the winter, submit it to your health insurance and in the spring you’ll be good to go.
… three months later
Employee: Hey boss, I had my surgery and my doc says I can do light duty, can you get me back to work?
Employer: Sorry, we don’t need you anymore and stop calling us. Go file for unemployment.
Does this scenario sound familiar? Employers will often try to convince employees to avoid filing Pennsylvania workers compensation claims by suggesting that it would be in their best interests to have someone else pay for their medical treatment and lost wages. This is improper and could be illegal! Once an employee reports a work related injury (This is precisely what this worker did), the Employer is required to either accept the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation claim (on a permanent or temporary basis) or deny the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation claim. Click here to See article on repetitive and cumulative Trauma Injuries. If the Employer does neither the Employee has up to three years to file a Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Claim petition to get his/her work related injury recognized to request penalties as a result of the Employer’s violation of the law.
Are you concerned that you received unemployment when you should have been receiving workers compensation? No worries. You can collect both, however your Pennsylvania worker compensation wage loss benefits will typically be reduced by the net amount of unemployment you received.
Are you worried that your health insurance already paid for the medical treatment? Again, this is not a problem. The experienced Pennsylvania workers compensation lawyers in our office know how to work with health insurance companies to get them paid back.
Don’t be fooled. The longer you wait to file your Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation claim the more you have to lose and the more the Employer has to gain.
If you have a question as to whether you should be collecting PA Unemployment Comp or Pa Workers Comp you should talk to an experienced lawyer to determine your options.
