Q: Explain Workers’ Compensation

A: Workers’ Compensation is essentially one of the earliest no-fault systems. In exchange for giving workers’ a recovery for job related injuries without regard to negligence, the law demands that the worker get a limited recovery. Before Workers’ Compensation laws were enacted, a worker could be denied a recovery if the worker’s own negligence in any way contributed to the injury. People were left without any means of support and without a way to obtain medical treatment. Therefore, workers’ compensation laws were passed that gave a worker a recovery based upon a percentage of his or her earnings, without regard to fault.

Q: What amounts do Injured Employees Receive?

A: Injured employees generally receive weekly benefits based upon a percentage of their earnings, up to a maximum. People with more dependents get more weekly benefits. Certain injuries are called “specific losses”, such as the loss of a limb or eye. Those types of injuries get benefits for a specific number of weeks. Medical bills are generally paid according to a formula. The health care provider can only get what the formula provides and cannot get more from the injured worker. In many cases, workers decide to accept a lump sum instead of weekly benefits. There is no specific formula that is used to decide the amount of a lump sum. Lump sum figures are arrived at based upon many factors, such as the age of the injured worker, the extent of the disability, whether the worker can do any other type of job, and the amount of future medical bills.

Q: When must the Injured worker return to work?

A: Some workers are so severely injured that they never return to work. Such workers receive benefits over their entire lifetime. Other workers have what is known as a closed period of disability, meaning that the worker is off of work only for a specific, limited period of time. During the closed period of disability, the injured worker receives workers’ compensation benefits. Many of the disputes between injured workers’ and the insurance companies involve disputes where one doctor feels the worker is still disabled while another doctor, chosen by the insurer, claims that the injured worker is ready to return to work. Such disputes are resolved by the magistrate.

Q: How does the receipt of workers compensation interact with the receipt of Social Security or Disability Insurance Benefits?

A: When a worker receives workers’ compensation benefits and then receives old age Social Security, the workers’ compensation benefits are reduced. If an injured worker receives Social Security Disability benefits and workers’ compensation, the Social Security payments may be reduced. If a worker receives disability insurance benefits and then recovers workers’ compensation, the disability insurance carrier generally is reimbursed from the past due workers’ compensation benefits that are recovered.

Q: My employer was negligent and I want to sue my employer.

A: Generally, an injured worker cannot sue his or her employer or even a co-employee for negligence, unless the employer intentionally injures the employee and intends to cause the injury. However, an injured employee can sue another employer that is not his or her own employer who caused an injury. However, the workers’ compensation carrier may get a portion of the recovery from the other party responsible for the injury so that the injured employee does not collect for lost wages twice.

Q: Can I force my employer to retrain me for another job?

A: Yes. Rehabilitation is built into the system. If there is a decent likelihood that an injured worker can be retrained to be productive in another area and allow that worker to earn wages, the employer may be forced to pay for such retraining.

Q: I had two jobs at the time I was injured. I cannot work at either job due to the injury. Can my employer be forced to pay workers’ compensation based upon my earnings from both jobs?

A: Yes. Many times a worker with two jobs can add together the wages from both jobs to determine his or her workers’ compensation rate. That rate is then paid by the employer for the worker where the injury occurred. The State of Michigan also has a fund known as the Second Injury Fund that sometimes pays benefits where two jobs are involved.

Q: How are workers’ compensation hearings held?

A: Workers compensation hearings are held in a small hearing room. There are many magistrates appointed by the governor of the State of Michigan to hear such cases. The rules of evidence are generally applied. There are no juries. Medical evidence is generally provided by doctors whose testimony is introduced at the hearing by a written deposition transcript. These depositions generally take place in the doctor’s office where the lawyers question the doctor and a court stenographer puts the testimony into transcript form.

Q: How are attorneys paid in workers’ compensation cases?

A: The fees to attorneys are set by the Workers’ Compensation Bureau and must be approved by a magistrate. Generally, the costs that the attorney expends is first returned to the lawyer if the case is successful. Such costs include payments to doctors for medical records and testimony as well as the transcripts that are prepared by the court reporter. As to the amount that remains after return of costs to the lawyer, the fee on settlements is generally 15% of the first $25,000.00 and 10% for amounts above the $25,000.00. If cases are tried to completion the fee is generally 30% of the past due amounts owed with no fee on future benefits, unless the case goes on appeal. When the State of Michigan set attorney fees in Workers’ Compensation cases, the idea was to afford injured workers access to legal talent similar to what is available to the insurer and/or employer.

The State of Michigan Workers’ Compensation Web site is
www.michigan.gov/wca