Many changes to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, much to the detriment of the injured worker, took place in the sweeping 1996 amendments to the Act. One of the more substantial changes was the amendment to Section 204(a), allowing PA workers’ comp insurance carriers to enjoy an offset, or credit,…
Under PA workers’ comp, wage loss benefits are stopped (suspended) when an injured worker returns to work at no loss in wages (medical treatment continues, regardless of wage loss, however). What if the injured worker (“claimant”) voluntarily quits a job? Can he or she get reinstated to workers’ compensation benefits…
Before recent changes in PA Workers’ Compensation law, an insurance carrier could “accept” a claim using a Notice of Denial (NCD). This left the status of the work injury in doubt, so, in 2011, the PA Bureau of Workers’ Compensation redesigned the NCD form to no longer allow such an…
When we settled a workers’ comp case in Pennsylvania (usually done by what is called a “Compromise & Release Agreement”), there was often a question from our client about whether he or she could then file for unemployment compensation benefits. Usually, as part of a workers’ compensation settlement, the employer/insurance…
As we previously mentioned, we are moving our Trevose office from Three Neshaminy Interplex, Suite 301, to Five Neshaminy Interplex, Suite 205. Our telephone number will remain the same, (215) 638-7500. We will continue to serve injured workers in the entire Southeastern Pennsylvania area, through both this lower Bucks County…
When a work injury in Pennsylvania is not obvious, the injured worker must present expert medical testimony to explain how the work duties caused the work injury. This gets even more complicated when the condition at issue is caused by a combination of the work duties and pre-existing pathology, such…
As attorneys who limit their practice to representing the injured worker in PA workers’ comp cases, we are thrilled by the recent announcement that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has approved the process of creating a “certified workers’ compensation attorney” in Pennsylvania (or, in other words, a workers’ compensation specialist).…
It is well-settled law in PA that an aggravation of a pre-existing condition is compensable under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. However, depending on the condition at issue, the work injury may be seen to end when the worker returns to his or her baseline condition (or, in other words,…
Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, and throughout legal process generally, once a matter has been decided, the parties cannot try the matter again. This is called the concept of Res Judicata. Often, for any of a number of reasons, an attorney representing an injured worker asks a Workers’ Compensation…
One aspect of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation system we (thankfully) do not often address is what is known as a “fatal claim,” where the employee is killed in the work accident. This can, of course, occur in the injury itself, or it can occur as a consequence of the original…