Lost Wages

If you or a loved one has recently been hurt at work, you probably have a lot of questions about your legal rights. In addition to the payment of your medical expenses, your employer may also be responsible for at least partial compensation for your lost wages while you recover from your injury. Rockland County workers’ compensation attorney Valerie J. Crown can help injured employees, in Rockland, Westchester, and Orange Counties, assert their legal rights following a job-related accident or illness.

We recognize the challenges that each of our clients faces during some of the most difficult times in their lives. It is a central part of our mission to provide them with the personal attention that they deserve. Valerie may be reached on her cell phone at 845.598.8253 at any hour of day or night. Our team is ready to discuss your concerns whenever they may arise. We can handle matters of all sizes for injured workers who seek our assistance.

Since workers’ compensation laws represent a compromise in which an injured employee does not need to prove that their employer was negligent in causing an accident, an employee receives a limited amount of compensation for their lost wages in a workers’ compensation claim. The New York Workers’ Compensation Board describes compensation for lost wages in terms of “cash benefits.”

These benefits are not paid until an injured employee has been off work for at least seven days. If the worker is off for more than 14 days, they should be paid retroactively from the date of the injury. The amount of the cash benefits available to a worker depends on several factors, including their average weekly wage prior to the accident, the state minimum/maximum weekly benefit, and whether they are partially or totally disabled on a temporary basis.

For example, suppose that a worker is totally disabled for at least two weeks and that their average weekly wage was $600. Using the formula of multiplying two-thirds of the average weekly wage by the percentage of disability, the worker’s weekly cash benefit would be $400 while out of work on a total temporary basis. If the employee is unable to return to their regular job after reaching a point of maximum medical improvement, additional benefits in the form of permanent partial disability or permanent total disability may also be available.

Many aspects of workers’ compensation law are formulaic and very technical. Sometimes, other laws come into play as well, such as when an employee is hurt on a defective piece of machinery or is injured in a work-related car accident caused by someone else. It may be useful to have an attorney who is experienced in this type of law represent you as you go through the process of recovering from a job-related injury and seeking the payment that you are due. To schedule an appointment with a Rockland County lawyer who is skilled in these issues, call us at 845.708.5900 or contact us online to set up a free, confidential case evaluation. You may also reach Valerie through her cell phone at 845.598.8253. She also represents people throughout Greater New York who need an injury attorney to bring a claim on their behalf.