Workmans Comp Benefits: Temporary Disability

Whenever a worker is hurt on the job, he should immediately notify an upper level manager or the Human Resources manager of his employer of the details as to when, where, and how he was injured in the course of his work. Following this procedure will protect your legal right to claim workmans comp benefits. Once treatment has begun by the company-selected doctors, those doctors can decide whether or not to keep the injured worker off work for any period of time during his treatment period while recovering from work injuries.

Workers compensation law for the state of Missouri provides that once the treating doctor keeps the injured worker completely off work for more than three regularly scheduled work days (the three-day waiting period), the employer and their workers compensation insurance company owe the employee hurt on the job workmans comp benefits in the form of “temporary total disability benefits”. Unfortunately, more often than not these weekly lost-pay workmans comp benefits never start being paid in the first place because the job supervisor, foreman, company owner, or human resources department you notify of the details of your accident-caused injuries either decides not to, refuses to, or never gets around to reporting the accident in the first place.

Whenever your employer fails to tell their workers compensation insurance company of your accident, tells you they will not send you to a doctor, tells you they do not have a doctor to send you to for treatment, or otherwise denies workmans comp benefits, it is a negative sign that they have decided not to treat your work-related injury with the respect it deserves. They expect you to go to a doctor for treatment on your own and pay for it out of your own pocket or regular health insurance so they don't have to run it through their workers comp insurance and provide workmans comp benefits. Whenever this happens, don't let them get away with it!

If you were injured in the greater St. Louis area or surrounding counties, St. Louis Workers' Compensation Center can help. We will fight on your behalf in an effort to help you get the workmans comp benefits you need.

What Are Temporary Disability Workmans Comp Benefits? Temporary Total Disability Benefits are workmans comp benefits that are intended to provide compensation. Income to substitute for wages that are completely lost when you are totally unable to work due to a work-related injury or illness. After the initial 3-day waiting period when you are kept off work on doctor's orders, you should begin to get paid temporary workmans comp benefits at two-thirds of your average weekly wages, as measured by your weekly gross pay for the 13-week or 14-week period before your work injury.

Temporary Partial Disability Benefits provide you with partial compensation for lost wages when your work-related injuries or disease force you to work reduced hours or at reduced pay. Thus, these workmans comp benefits pay you a percentage of the pay you lost due to your reduced hourly pay or reduced hours of work.

Once a worker injured on the job has completed medical treatment for his work-related injuries, assuming no further medical treatment would do any good to improve his condition, he can be said to have reached what doctors call “maximum medical improvement”. At this time, temporary workmans comp benefits stop. The company doctors will then rate the injured worker for permanent disability. It is important to note that often company-selected treating doctors will find that an injured worker has reached maximum medical improvement even when in fact further medical treatment could meaningfully improve his medical condition.

Issues Commonly Faced When Receiving Temporary Workmans Comp Benefits

All workers injured in Missouri in an accident suffered on the job or from an occupational disease resulting from exposure to constant repetitive motions or toxic chemicals or substances have the legal right to certain workmans comp benefits including medical treatment benefits, temporary lost pay benefits, and, once released from treatment, permanent disability benefits. However, even when your employer tells their workmans compensation insurance the details of how, where, and when you were injured on the job, you will usually not be satisfied with the results.

For example, you may not agree with the quality or length of the medical treatment the company provides, their chosen treating doctors, how long their treating doctors keep you off work, and what work restrictions their doctors put on you. In addition to going out of their way to find as little as possible wrong with you from your work injuries - including both ignoring some injuries and under - or misdiagnosing other injuries - company-selected doctors will usually refuse to do some or all necessary diagnostic tests on you, rush to send you back to work on restricted or even full duty while you are still hurting badly, and then release you from medical treatment way too soon. All of these things are done in an effort to reduce or minimize the workmans comp benefits you receive.

At St. Louis Workers' Compensation Center, we can help you fight back against company doctors' one-sided favoring of insurance company financial interests that allow them to pay out as little as possible on your medical, temporary lost pay, and later permanent disability workmans comp benefits.

Contact Us to Learn More About Temporary Workmans Comp Benefits

If you have been hurt on the job in the course of your work and want to avoid getting a raw deal on workmans comp benefits, contact attorney Tom Hyatt at St. Louis Workers' Compensation Center now for a free consultation. Review of your workers comp case. Strict deadlines apply, so please do not wait to act and fight back until after these deadlines have passed and it is too late. We offer legal consultation. Services for any worker injured in the greater St. Louis area and surrounding counties, including but not limited to St. Louis City and St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Franklin County, Lincoln County, Warren County, Jefferson County, Washington County, St. Francois County, and Ste. Genevieve County. If you are injured on the job due to the job and cannot come to us and live within 100 miles of St. Louis, we will come to you. Attorney Tom Hyatt will file your claim and give you aggressive, honest legal representation on your workers compensation claim. Not doing so means you stand to get cheated out of some or all your workmans comp benefits.

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