Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog
A recent release from the Harvard School of Public Health News Service looks at a residency program designed to help injured workers, and those collecting workers’ compensation benefits in the greater Boston area get back on their feet and get back to work.
According to the recent graduate who worked in rehabilitation program, helping injured workers recover to the point where they can get back to work helps not only with the injury that caused them to miss work, but also with their general health.
While many politicians like to claim that injured workers who collect workers’ compensation benefits are just lazy and would rather sit and home and collect a check, this could not be further from the truth in the vast majority of cases. First of all, the benefits in a Boston workers’ compensation case are based upon a percentage of the state average weekly wage or “SAWW” as is often called by those in the industry. In other words, even the highest possible award of workers’ compensation benefits will be at least some percentage less than that worker could make being employed full time as he or she did before become injured on the job or suffering from an on the job illness.
The reality is that many people on workers’ compensation would like to get back to work as soon as possible. There are a variety of reasons for this, including the fact that people want to feel like they are being productive members of society and want to get back into the workforce so they can earn more money and take care of their families. While there is absolutely no shame in collecting workers’ compensation when you are unable to work, in many cases, they have found that being unable to work leads to depression, and that can eventually take a toll on person’s physical health as well mental health, as noted in this article.
This particular graduate student worked to develop a smartphone app that is designed to help employers work with their employees who are collecting workers’ compensation benefits in Boston toward making as full a recovery as possible and getting back on the job. It is easy to see why an employer would be interested in this software, as the sooner an employee gets back on the job, the sooner that employer can stop pay paying out workers’ compensation benefits, or paying a higher premium for workers’ compensation insurance, since the policy was actually used.
However, just because it is helpful to employers, does not mean it is not equally helpful to injured workers, as they will likely be much happier if they are able to make a full recovery and get back on the job. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are only able to work part time, and your employer is able to make reasonable accommodations so that you can do so, your benefits may be affected sooner that you would hope.
If you or someone you love has been injured a Boston work accident, call for a free and confidential appointment at (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Getting injured workers back on their feet, May 3, 2016, Harvard SPH News, By News Staff
More Blog Entries:
Scope of Employment in Workers’ Compensation Cases, March 29, 2016, Boston Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog