If you are injured on the job you undoubtedly experienced a healing process. Hopefully, your healing process is quick and complete with no limitations. However, if you have reached an end of healing and your doctor is of the opinion that you have a permanent injury then you could be entitled to permanent partial disability benefits.
Permanent partial disability is easiest to explain through an example of someone who loses a body part. Let’s say a worker loses their index finger in a work accident. After the pain, stitches, soreness, and scarring goes away, the employee is ready to work but now is missing a finger. Wisconsin statutes think that you should be made whole for the fact you lost your finger while working. The only way to do that is to compensate you for the lost finger.
The statutes have very specific guidelines on how much an employee is entitled to for their permanent disability. For example, if an employee loses their whole index finger, they are entitled to 60 weeks of permanent partial disability. The amount of wages for permanent partial disability is two-thirds of an employee’s average weekly wage with a maximum of $322 a week. Most employees qualify for the maximum permanent partial rate. This means the injured employee would receive $322/week for 60 weeks.
Fortunately, most work injuries don’t end in amputation. However, this means it is harder to determine exactly how much permanent injury you received. How does an employee get made whole for the pain in their ankle they now experience every day because of the accident? The easiest way for that to get determined is for a worker to go to a doctor who will evaluate the injury and determine a permanent partial disability rating. For example, the doctor may say that because the worker broke his ankle, the ankle is 25% permanently partially disabled. A worker would then be entitled to 25% of what the statutes determine is appropriate for a full loss of a foot at an ankle.
Temporary Total Disability, Temporary Partial Disability, and Permanent Partial Disability are the three most common ways that an employee gets benefits under the worker’s compensation statutes in Wisconsin. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you have been injured at work please contact our office for a free consultation to help you receive everything you deserve for your injury.
If you have been injured on the job or any have worker’s compensation questions please contact me for a free, no cost, no obligation consultation. We take these cases on a contingency fee basis so there is never a fee for our services unless and until there is a recovery. In the Madison area call (608) 824-8540, in the Baraboo area (608) 356-3961, statewide call (866) 455-2993, email at mark@kh-law.net or check out our website at https://khtlawyers.com for more information. At Krueger Hernandez & Thompson SC, we listen, we care, we get results!
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