It is a frequent call we receive. “My check is late.” Nobody wants to deal with a delay in getting their check, especially around the holidays. Indeed, getting a check late means more than just difficulty in holiday shopping – it means late rent, mortgage payments, phone bills, credit card…
Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog
Maximum Workers’ Compensation Rate for Pennsylvania Raised to $1,130.00 for 2021
As happens every year around this time, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has released the Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) for the coming year. For 2021, the SAWW is $1,130.00, an increase over the $1,081.00 of 2020. The SAWW represents the maximum weekly workers’ compensation rate an injured worker…
Two New PA Workers’ Compensation Judges Appointed to the Bench, Two Retiring
The Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation rarely announces the coming or going of Workers’ Compensation Judges (WCJs). Recently, the Bureau veered from its normal procedure and announced the following release: “The Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication is pleased to announce the hiring of two new Judges: Anthony Salvino, Esq. and…
Employer Engages in Unreasonable Contest When There is No Document Filed Accepting Work Injury
As we have discussed in the past, the assessment of unreasonable contest attorney fees is a rare finding in PA workers’ compensation. This is when the workers’ comp insurance carrier is ordered to pay the fees of the injured worker’s attorney. Even on those unusual occasions when a Workers’ Compensation…
PA Commonwealth Court Answers Some IRE Questions, But Not Others
Back in 2017, we shared the exciting news (hey, we attorneys have a unique sense of excitement!) that the entire Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) section of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of PA (The Protz case) and stricken from the Act. This,…
In a PA Work Injury, Concussion Can Be Confused With Whiplash
We have previously discussed on this blog the difficulties in differentiating shoulder injuries to injured workers, noting that according to medical literature, several conditions can account for similar symptoms in a similar area. Some recent articles have now shed light on some difficulties in diagnosing a concussion versus a whiplash…
PA Workers’ Compensation Hearings Primarily Still Being Done Telephonically
As we noted in our June 2020 update, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation began to (technically) allow limited in-person hearings, in counties which have been declared to be in the “Green” phase by Governor Wolf. This announcement was made on June 12, 2020, to take effect June 19, 2020. …
PA Workers’ Compensation System Will Not Fully Open, Even as Each County in Pennsylvania Reaches the Green Phase
As more counties across Pennsylvania reach the “Green” phase in the COVID-19 recovery process, attorneys involved in the PA workers’ compensation process were curious to know how this will impact the operations of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Yesterday, we were advised by the Bureau that, “(t)he designation of counties…
PA Workers’ Compensation Benefits Suspended For Alleged Voluntary Withdrawal From The Labor Market
Once an injured worker in Pennsylvania establishes an entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits (when out of work, the benefits are known as “temporary total disability benefits” or TTD), the workers’ comp insurance carrier cannot just stop paying the benefits at its discretion. This is one of the advantages of the…
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Continues to Impact PA Workers’ Compensation System
Yesterday, our attorneys participated in a webinar dealing with the continuing impact the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation system. We have already participated in hearings using Skype for Business, and understand some Workers’ Compensation Judges (WCJs) are experimenting with the WebX platform. Zoom had been…