If your Google search has brought you to this page, chances are you or someone you care about has been injured in a workplace accident. The physical pain and mental suffering associated with such instances are significant, if not incomprehensible.
Workers’ compensation, a program that assists injured workers throughout their rehabilitation, may provide financial compensation for workplace injuries. This program also offers financial compensation/disability benefits to people who may never heal completely from their injuries. Furthermore, it provides death benefits to people who are killed on the job.
Victims and their loved ones should contact a workers’ compensation attorney for assistance traversing the complicated path of seeking to secure the reimbursement they urgently need and deserve.
Workers’ Compensation: How Much are Body Parts Worth?
As bizarre as it sounds, each state has the legal right to set its compensation for body part injuries. Several states have a predetermined injury protocol that stipulates the amount to be paid if an employee loses a limb or sensory ability. In Florida, for example, you won’t find such a list. That is not to say that remuneration for limb loss is not accessible. Workers injured in the state are reimbursed according to their degree of impairment. A workers’ compensation attorney can assist you in proving your injuries and related impairment, allowing you to earn a higher payout.
Bearing this in mind, you can see how settlements differ based on where you were hurt. In California, an employee who loses a big toe would earn somewhat more than $6,000 in compensation. A similar injury in Oregon would result in a compensation of more than $90,000. Without question, this is a difficult concept to grasp. Is it possible to place a monetary value on a body part? While the question seems abstract, the answer is, sadly, yes.
The amount you receive after an injury also depends on which means you’ve used to get compensation, which might be reimbursement from your state’s workers compensation fund, accidental death, and dismemberment (AD&D) policy, or a lawsuit.
At the same time, the compensation from an accidental death and dismemberment insurance coverage might be $5,000, or 25% of a $20,000 AD&D policy.
The amount you get differs by state, but most state workers’ compensation boards base their payments on a portion of your weekly wage multiplied by the number of weeks attributed to the lost part.
In New York, for example, losing an arm while working would entitle you to 312 weeks of remuneration at 66 and 2/3 of your average weekly pay, with a ceiling of $400.
What We Recommend
Now that you have some understanding of worker’s compensation law, you should have realized by now that you’re better off in the hands of a professional. Getting an experienced employment lawyer familiar with the state’s law and who has dealt with serious injuries before will help you get the compensation you deserve.