Recovering Lost Wages for Injured Employees
Most South Carolina employees are covered under South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Act. If you were injured in a work accident, you can recover for your work injury and time away from the job. Recovering lost wages can be a difficult process.
Attorney Bubba Cromer knows What an Injured Worker Expects to Recover
In South Carolina, injured employees can recover for:
- The cost of all necessary medical treatment for work-related injuries
- Income lost for missing work due to a work injury
- Permanent injuries sustained (financial settlement)
Employees who injure a single body part (such as a leg, arm or eye) will receive compensation for their injury and temporary lost wages. Employees who injure two or more body parts often receive compensation for permanent and total disability.
Recovering Lost Wages For You
Some work injuries make it impossible for an employee to return to work. Employers’ payment for lost wages depends on the employee’s injury:
- Temporary total benefits: If you are temporarily incapacitated, the work pay you may receive depends on a percentage (66 and two-thirds percent) of the wages you earned over time at the job. You will start to receive work pay after seven days. The amount of money you can receive is limited by state law.
- Permanent disability: If a work-related accident caused permanent injuries or death, you will receive compensation for lost wages for up to five hundred weeks. Permanent — or total — disability is determined by many factors, including your doctor’s evaluation of your injury, your educational background and your age.
- Permanent lost wages: If a work-related accident causes a disability that permanently reduces the employee’s future wages, he or she may receive the difference in lost wages up to 340 weeks.