Types of Benefits Offered By Delaware Workers’ Compensation
When you’ve been injured on the job, you are eligible for compensation for your injuries, treatment, and lost wages. All employers are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance at no cost to you. There are multiple types of benefits that you may be eligible for depending on your injury.
The following is a comprehensive list of benefits available to you depending the extent of your injury and your ability to get back to work. Your injuries, treatment, and recovery time are generally decided by an independent medical examination by a doctor of your choosing. Types of benefits include:
- Temporary total disability benefits. When you lose time at work, you are eligible for temporary disability. These benefits become payable after the fourth day of lost work. The minimum benefit is 66⅔ percent of your gross weekly wage at the time you were injured.
- Temporary partial benefits. If you are able to return to work in a limited capacity after your injury, it may be in a different area or at a lower wage. If this is the case, you are entitled to ⅔ of the difference between your old wage and your new wage. In the event that you are unable to return to your former position, these benefits can be received for up to 300 weeks.
- Permanent impairment benefits. When an occupational injury or illness results in partial disability, your benefits depend on the injury or illness. Scheduled losses included arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, eyes, and ears. Nonscheduled losses involve organs and large muscle groups (back, heart, lungs).
- Disfigurement benefits. Eligibility for disfigurement benefits includes a one-year period after an accident, injury or surgery. If, after that time, you suffer permanent scarring, burns, or amputation due to your accident, you may qualify for up to 150 weeks depending on severity.
- Death benefits. If you lost a loved one to a job-related accident or illness, you are entitled to receive benefits. The weekly payments are based on the number of dependents, and you are entitled to a maximum of $3,500 for funeral expenses.
After an injury or death, the necessary paperwork and requirements to receive benefits can be complicated and difficult. A skilled Delaware workers’ compensation attorney can guide you through a difficult time and make sure you get the compensation you deserve. Visit Silverman, McDonald & Friedman in Newark, Seaford, or Wilmington or contact us today for a free consultation.
