The workers’ compensation wage loss benefit pays about two-thirds of your prior salary or wages. This is a significant reduction in take-home pay, which leads many injured workers to wonder how to make extra money while on workers’ comp.
If you are on workers’ comp disability because you are unable to work one job, holding a second job could damage your workers’ comp claim.
Even if the duties of your second job are fully compatible with your injuries, the workers’ comp insurer could use that second income to reduce your benefits. If the insurer sees the opportunity to argue that your second job demonstrates that you are not disabled, they’ll do that and seek to terminate your benefits.
If you already had a second job when you were injured, you should have reported it and its salary. The insurance company cannot take credit if you are physically able to do the other job but not physically able to do the job you were injured in.
Legally, you are to report all of your income as part of a workers’ compensation claim. You could jeopardize your workers’ compensation by earning unreported income while collecting workers’ comp benefits.
Changing Jobs During a Workers’ Compensation Claim
Sometimes a client asks us whether they can get a new job while on workers’ compensation. They would like to change employers but still receive workers’ comp benefits. We counsel them that this is possible, but they need to remember that they are being paid benefits because they remain injured or have a work-related disease.
Before accepting a new job while receiving workers’ comp, discuss the situation with your treating physician. Make sure he or she will certify that the new job duties do not conflict with your ongoing disability, nor are they likely to make your condition worse.
You also need to notify the insurance company paying your workers’ comp benefits that you are changing jobs and tell them your new wages or salary.
Your workers’ comp benefit is tied to your injury and the resulting medical costs and wage losses. To an extent some of these benefits are “portable” should you change jobs. To protect your benefits, you should confer with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney before accepting a new job, regardless of the location.
Workers’ compensation is a complex insurance program paid for by employers. It is easy to run afoul of the rules and jeopardize a claim. Workers’ comp insurers and employers will challenge or deny a claim if they find a reason to do so, especially if a claim has the potential to be costly.
The Raleigh workers’ compensation attorneys at Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks, P.A., can assist and advise you about your workers’ comp claim from start to finish. If you have questions about returning to work after suffering a workplace injury, please let us discuss your options. If your workers’ comp claim does not account for all of your income, we can advise you of the proper steps to take.
Contact Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks, P.A., in Raleigh today for a free consultation about your North Carolina workers’ compensation claim and how we can help you.
Yes, if you have related medical bills and expenses that need to be paid, you can work and collect workers’ comp benefits. In some cases, you may be required to return to work. In other cases, it gets complicated and you’ll need to know the rules, or you could lose benefits.
