Workers' Compensation Lawyers in Charleston, South Carolina

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

Steinberg Law Firm (843) 720-2800 www.steinberglawfirm.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Put Our Team On Your Side........................................................................................3 What Is Workers’ Compensation?..............................................................................4 Common Work Related Injuries.................................................................................6 Work Injuries Are Not Always Accidental................................................................7 What Type Of Benefits Are You Owed & How Much?............................................8 Total Disability.............................................................................................................10 Partial Disability..........................................................................................................11 Death Benefits............................................................................................................12

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

PUT OUR TEAM ON YOUR SIDE Having the right workers’ compensation lawyers on your side fighting for the benefits you deserve will go a long way in keeping you and your family financially secure. The Charleston workers’ compensation lawyers at Steinberg Law Firm have handled thousands of workers’ compensation cases.

Let us use our experience to help you through this troubling time.

Some employers are unhappy when employees are injured on the job. They do not want their workers’ compensation insurance premiums to go up, which can happen if there are a lot of work injuries. Often, employers will try to convince injured workers to not report the injury. These unscrupulous practices are against South Carolina’s workers’ compensation laws.

Once you file a workers’ compensation claim, these employers and their insurance companies will have a team of adjusters, lawyers and private investigators working to pay you as little money as possible, or to not pay you at all.

But you can fight back.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

WHAT IS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION? Most employees in South

Get the benefits you have earned.

Carolina have workers’

You should have a team of highly

compensation benefits.

trained, highly skilled South Carolina workers’ compensation lawyers on

Workers’ compensation is a system

your side. The attorneys and staff at the

of legally defined benefits available

Steinberg Law Firm will aggressively

to most workers who are injured or

represent you all the way from the

become sick on the job.

initial phone call investigating the accident and making sure you are paid the benefits you deserve.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

TO HELP FIGHT AND WIN YOUR CLAIM WE WILL:

Explain to you in common sense terms the work injury laws in South Carolina and what types of benefits you deserve

Gathering all of the appropriate documentation such as accident reports, medical records and witness statements

Determine your wage benefits and explain to you the law in how these weekly wage benefits are calculated

Preparing you to testify at hearings if necessary, along with any witnesses required to prove your claim

Take the depositions of treating physicians and medical experts to prove your disability is related to a work injury

Ensure all of your work-related medical bills are paid, including money for possible future treatment

If your disability is permanent, make sure that you and your family will be fully taken care of in the future

Negotiate with the insurance company for a fair settlement of your claim to ensure you are fully compensated for your medical bills, lost wages and lost earning capacity

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

COMMON WORKRELATED INJURIES Workers’ compensation claims see

and herniated discs, cervical and

all the most common work injuries to

lumbar fusions, broken or fractured

various part of the body. Some work

vertebrae, and degenerative disc

injuries can be fairly minor requiring

disease caused from years of

you to be out of work for a few days.

repetitive movement

However, others can be very serious and disable a person for life. While

Knee injuries such as dislocated

others can result in a fatality. Here

knees, torn ACL or MCL ligaments,

are some of the most common work-

and degenerative conditions

related injuries:

requiring total knee replacement

Shoulder injuries like rotator cuff

Overexertion injuries causing pulled

tears, dislocated shoulders and

muscles and ligaments in various

degenerative conditions that require

parts of the body

shoulder replacement Lungs injuries from inhaling toxic Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

fumes or from working in factories

(CRPS) or Reflex Sympathetic

for a long time, contracting COPD

Dystrophy (RSD) Broken bones due to falls or Spinal cord injuries in the neck

being entangled with a machine;

and lower back including bulging

lacerations, amputations or burns

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

WORK INJURIES ARE NOT ALWAYS ACCIDENTAL The top cause of injury at work is intentional violent acts. Injuries caused by repetitive tasks or accidents are secondary.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

WHAT TYPES OF BENEFITS ARE YOU OWED & HOW MUCH? What is the extent of your injury?

Unfortunately, even though the workers’ compensation system in South Carolina was initially designed to be easy to use and benefits were supposed to be easily obtained, far too many workers are unfairly denied the workers’ compensation benefits they desperately need. In these circumstances, legal action can help workers gain access to the benefits to which they are entitled.

In South Carolina, two major criteria are used to determine compensation: whether your disability is temporary or permanent, and whether it is partial or total. This determination could make a big difference in what you receive.

Calculating weekly benefits When calculating the amount of benefits you will receive on a weekly basis, the Judge looks at your gross average weekly wage. In most cases, an injured worker will receive two-thirds of their gross average weekly wage every week that the work injury causes them to be off work. There are a few exceptions to this general rule. If your average weekly wage is $75/week or less, then you will receive 100 percent of your wages each week that you are off. The other

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

exception involves the state of South Carolina, every year, setting the top limit of average weekly wage that a worker can receive, no matter how much money they make in the average week. Therefore, if you are a highly paid worker and you are hurt, your weekly wage benefit will be lowered to the state mandated average weekly wage.

Calculating weekly benefits If you are injured on the job, always seek medical care, even if you do not believe the injury to be serious. There are steps you can take to protect yourself.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

TOTAL DISABILITY If your injuries are so severe that you cannot work at all, even on a light duty basis, then you can receive total disability benefits which is two-thirds of your average weekly wage. This benefit has a maximum of up to 500 weeks (approximately 9.6 years), assuming that your total disability is permanent.

There is an exception to this rule, however. If your injury has caused you to suffer from brain damage or has left you a paraplegic or quadriplegic, there is no time limit and you will receive total disability benefits for the rest of your life.

You can also qualify for temporary total disability benefits if you lose certain body parts, either through amputation or loss of use:

Your total disability benefits are two-thirds of your average weekly wage.

• Losing the use of both hands • Losing the use of both arms

This benefit has a maximum of

• Losing the use of both shoulders

up to 500 weeks, unless you to

• Losing the use of both feet

suffered brain damage, or are paraplegic or quadriplegic.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

PARTIAL DISABILITY With permanent partial disability,

This category of wage benefits is

some categories of injuries will

dictated by whether the partial

automatically grant you a specific

disability is temporary or permanent. If

amount of weeks of wage benefits,

your partial disability is of a temporary

regardless if you are out of work or

nature, then you can receive weekly

not. Some examples of permanent

wage benefits of two-thirds of your

partial disability benefits include:

average weekly wage for a maximum of 340 weeks (approximately 6.5

• 65 weeks of payments for losing a thumb

years). If your injuries recover and you can return back to work without

• 32 weeks for losing a big toe

restrictions, then your weekly benefits

• 10 weeks for losing any other toe

will stop as soon as you return to work.

• 220 weeks for losing an arm • 195 weeks for losing a leg • 300 weeks for losing up to 49

If you injury is not permanent,

percent of he use of your back

you are eligible to receive

• 140 weeks for losing vision in the

benefits of two-thirds of your

eye (or losing the eye)

average weekly wage for a maximum of 340 weeks.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

DEATH BENEFITS Unfortunately, some work injuries

Other people can also qualify as

result in the death of a worker. In

total or partial dependents, but

these instances, the employee’s

only if they actually depended on

family is awarded a certain amount

the worker for financial support at

of death benefits to compensate

least three months prior to the work

them for the loss of the income of

accident. Death benefits are paid

their deceased family member. In

for a maximum of 500 weeks from

South Carolina, the following family

the date of the injury. Benefits for

members are conclusively presumed

children end when they reach 18, or if

to be total dependents:

they are enrolled in school full time, when they reach age 23. However,

• a spouse

children who are physically or

• a child under 18

mentally incapable of self-support will

• a child under 23 who is a full-time

continue to receive benefits for the

student at an accredited school

full 500 weeks. Further, the workers’

• a child of any age who is incapable of self-support due to a disability

compensation insurance company will have to pay up to $12,000 for funeral and burial expenses.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

DEATH BENEFITS ARE PAID IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER OF PRIORITY

Whole Dependents If there are whole dependents, they share the weekly benefit. However, if there is a spouse and two or more children, the spouse will receive at least 50 percent, and the children will share the remaining 50 percent.

Partial Dependents If there are no whole dependents, partial dependents will receive benefits in proportion to how much they relied on the worker’s earnings. If any of the benefit is left over, it will go to the worker’s nondependent children, or if there are none, to the worker’s nondependent parents.

Nondependent Children If there are no whole or partial dependents, the worker’s nondependent children will receive the benefit.

Nondependent Parents If there are no dependents or nondependent children, the worker’s nondependent parents receive the benefit.

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Workers’ Compensation in Charleston, South Carolina

(843) 720-2800 www.steinberglawfirm.com