workplace injury

In workers’ compensation cases, our clients are receiving weekly checks called “indemnity checks”. These payments are made consistent with the workers compensation statutes of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and are typically sixty percent (60%) of an injured person’s average weekly wage. For decades, the workers’ compensation insurers would send paper checks to the injured workers. Unfortunately, like many things that are mailed, the checks could be delayed by weather, holidays, or postal service log jams. In some situations, the insurers would just forget to send the checks. In New Hampshire, we addressed this continual inefficiency by proposing a change to the law to require a workers’ compensation insurer to pay their injured workers by direct deposit. This eliminated the cost of producing and mailing the…

A person that gets injured at work is often unaware of the process involved in workers’ compensation cases, and even more unaware of what they are entitled to. In the first instance, the most important thing is getting medical treatment for the injury they sustained. If the injury occurred within the scope of employment, the workers’ compensation insurer is required to pay for all related medical bills. So, if a person hurts themselves badly at work and has to go to the emergency room, then the workers’ compensation insurer will have to pay for it. In order to have them pay in the first instance, the employer and employee complete the first report of injury. This specifies what happened, where it happened, and how it…

Recently, there has been a significant debate in the New Hampshire house legislature about a rather mundane bill to most people. For the past year or so, Attorney Rory Parnell has attended multiple hearings and spoken to many legislators in New Hampshire in support of a direct deposit bill in workers’ compensation cases.The bill itself is very straight forward. If an injured employee is out for six weeks or more, the employee can elect to receive their indemnity benefits (a weekly wage check) via direct deposit. The current rule allows for insurers to mail the wage checks each week the worker is out due to a work injury. Unfortunately, the mail is unreliable due to issues with mail carriers, holidays, and delays by the workers’…

Injuries happen to all of us. Often, a person will be injured at work as a result of the duties of their employment. It is at these times that an injured person must understand the workers’ compensation system, and how to protect your rights. When a person is injured at work, and they have to miss time, the first thing they should understand is that your medical visits are covered. If an injury occurs during the course of employment, then the workers’ compensation insurance carrier will be required to pay for the medical services provided for the treatment of that injury. If the insurance carrier denies the payment of a medical bill, and the Department of Labor finds it should have been paid, the insurance…

At Parnell, Michels & McKay, we handle both New Hampshire and Massachusetts worker’s compensation cases. However, we often are asked about the differences between the two as it relates to settlements. In worker’s compensation cases, these are called “lump sum settlements.” A lump-sum settlement generally uses the weekly wage benefit amount as a basis for coming up with a settlement figure. For example, in a situation where an individual is getting $400.00 per week in wage benefits and is permanently disabled, there are a number of factors that come into play. Generally, it’s the injured worker’s life expectancy, the wage benefit amount, and whether the client prefers settlement to receive regular weekly benefits. If a person is permanently disabled and cannot work any form of…