El empleado debe llevar un registro completo de esos gastos y presentar los recibos que  amparan estas cantidades de dinero. Es una buena idea la de usar programas de computación como Mapquest o Google para conocer el numero de millas entre los diversos sitios a donde haya ido.  La distancia a calcular es desde el domicilio hasta el sitio a donde haya ido y el número total de millas es por el viaje redondo.  El pago por milla se hace de acuerdo a la tarifa actualizada por el Departamento de Labor e Industria.

Los gastos que se reembolsan al empleado incluyen también el dinero que el empleado haya pagado por cualquier medicina relacionada a la lesión de trabajo y que debe ser cubierta por el seguro de la compensación a los trabajadores. La presentación de recibos es necesaria.

Estos recibos de gastos, si como el reporte de las millas deben reportarse al seguro de la compensación del trabajador directamente o entregarse a su abogado, quien los presentará en su nombre ante el seguro.  El seguro normalmente envía un cheque directamente al empleado.

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Compensación de los Trabajadores en Minnesota

En cada caso de la Compensación de los Trabajadores en Minnesota, el trabajador lesionado tiene que comprobar que la lesión que presenta es una lesión relacionada al trabajo que desempeña. Esto no es fácil de hacer si no hay evidencia que puede corroborar la historia y los hechos que el trabajador lesionado declara. Después recibir lesiones relacionadas al trabajo, se debe considerar lo siguiente:

Obtenga tratamiento medico de inmediato

Es muy importante que usted sea examinado por un doctor si presenta una lesión. Consultando a un doctor de inmediato, no solo recibe usted la ayuda y tratamientos necesarios, pero también se inicia el historial de su lesión con la información médica que describe su lesión y los síntomas que presenta. Con estas notas iniciales provenientes de los doctores, el seguro podrá aceptar o negar la validez de su caso.

Declaración de su Historia Médica

Cuando le examina un doctor u otra persona calificada para hacerlo, se le preguntará datos acerca de su historia médica previa. Sea honesto al contestar. Muchas veces, el seguro de la compensación de los trabajadores solicitará copias de su expediente médico y así se enterará de aquellos problemas que usted ha sufrido anteriormente. Recuerde que muchas personas alguna vez han tenido lesiones o problemas que han requerido de tratamientos médico. Cuando un empleador en Minnesota emplea a cualquier persona, generalmente le da trabajo sin una previa investigación, Eso significa que se admite al trabajador, quien puede traer consigo todos y cada uno de los problemas que haya tenido en el pasado. Si una previa lesión de trabajo se pone peor, o se agrava de manera rápida o trae consigo el empeoramiento de condiciones de salud en el caso de lesiones pre-existentes, estas lesiones serán compensables. Asegúrese de declarar cualquier problema que usted haya tenido anteriormente y que fue tratado por un medico, esto además de la lesión, problemas y síntomas actuales, para que el doctor pueda documentarlo en forma correcta.

Describa la manera en que la lesión ocurrió, si como cuales son los síntomas que presenta.

Déjeme decirlo más claramente, Diga usted al doctor todo lo que paso. Si usted declara la verdad, no tendrá necesidad en el futuro de tener que repetir la historia. Al mismo tiempo, dígale también cuales son y en donde están todos los síntomas que usted presenta.

Mi recomendación es que usted explique todos sus síntomas de una manera honesta, sin necesidad de engrandecer la historia o decir más de lo necesario.

No se olvide de mencionar todas las áreas de su cuerpo que están lesionadas.  Algunas veces los doctores solo prestan atención a aquellas áreas que presentan las lesiones principales (en donde hay sangrado o un dolor intenso) y se olvidan de examinar o tratar otras áreas lesionadas. Asegúrese que el doctor documente todas sus lesiones aun por superficiales o poco importantes que sean. Esto no es una exageración, sino una precaución en caso de que una de estas “poco-importantes” lesiones puedan agravarse en el futuro.

Declare las actividades específicas de su trabajo.

A menudo nosotros asumimos que todo el mundo conoce a fondo como llevamos a cabo nuestro trabajo, como por ejemplo cuando decimos que trabajamos como mecánicos, maquinistas o obreros, etc.  Pero esto a menudo no es el caso.  Su doctor puede ser que no tenga un claro entendimiento de lo que usted hace y de cuales son los requerimientos físicos necesarios para desempeñar esta labor. Esto puede tener un impacto muy serio en la habilidad del medico para ordenarlo a regresar a trabajar con o sin restricciones. Asegúrese que el doctor entiende cual es su trabajo y cual es la actividad física que realiza en su trabajo.

Si usted tiene necesidad de obtener a un representante legal, por favor póngase en contacto conmigo a través del sitio en la RED o a la dirección de mi correo electrónico.

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Minnesota Work Comp

In any Minnesota workers’ compensation case, the injured worker bears the burden of proving a work related injury. This is not always easy to do if there is no evidence corroborating the injured worker’s story and facts of the case.  After a work injury it is important to keep in mind the following:

Seek Treatment

It is important that your first seek medical treatment after an injury. By seeking medical treatment you are not only getting treatment but you are also creating a paper trail by allowing a medical professional to document your history of the incident, injury and symptoms. These initial notes from the medical professionals can be pertinent to whether an insurance company accepts or denies your case.

Disclose your Medical History

At the time of an examination either the doctor or a staff member will ask you a series of questions concerning your past medical history. Be honest. Often times the workers’ compensation insurer will request your past medical records and will know whether you have had problems in the past. Remember most people at one point or another have had prior injuries or problems resulting in medical treatment. When an employer hires a Minnesota employee they take that employee as they find them. Which means they take them with all their prior problems. If a work injury further aggravates, accelerates or worsens your pre-existing condition that work injury is compensable. Make sure you disclose any prior problems along with any new or additional symptoms or problems you may have so the treating physician can document it accordingly.

Describe how the Injury Occurred along with the Symptoms

I am going to make this one simple. Tell your doctor what happened. If you tell the truth the first time, you won’t have tell it again. Along with the injury tell the doctor where and what type of symptoms you are having. My recommendation would be to be honest but don’t embellish your symptoms.

Don’t forget to disclose all injured body parts. Sometimes doctors  will only take care of the main injury (bleeding, most painful, etc) and they forget to deal with the other injuries.  Make sure the doctors are documenting  all the injured body parts even if they appear to be minor at the time you are seen. This is not exaggerating, instead, it is documenting in case those “minor” injuries get worse in the near future.

Disclose the Specifics of your Work Activities

Often times we assume someone knows what we do as a profession when we say we work as a mechanic, machinist, laborer, etc. This is not always the case. Your doctor may not have a clear understanding of what you do at work. This could have a drastic impact on whether a doctor allows you to return to work with or without restrictions. Make sure the doctor knows what you do and the physical requirements of that job.

If you are in need of legal represenation, please feel free to contact me through my website or email me.

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MN Court of Appeals

The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently held in Advanced Delivery Systems, Inc. v. Alfredo Jaime (9/22/09) that when a workers’ compensation issue is present in a district court action, the court has discretion under Minn. Stat. § 176.301, subd. 1 (2008), to try the action itself without a jury, or refer the matter to the workers’ compensation court.

The issue before the court in this case was whether the respondent was an employee or an independent contractor.The  court stated that under Minn. Stat. § 176.301, subd. 1, the district court had discretion to try the issue itself or refer the matter to the workers’ compensation court. In light of the statute, the district court decided not to exercise jurisdiction over the issue.

The court went on to state their decision was consistent with the legislative intent that workers’ compensation issues be decided in a “quick and efficient” manner under the workers’ compensation statute.

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Minnesota OSHA and workers compensation

Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure the safety and health of workers in Minnesota workers by setting and enforcing standards. If an employee or worker takes it upon himself or herself to report an employer violation that employee or worker cannot be retaliated against.

The following are excerpts taken from the OSHA fact sheet for a whistleblower’s rights:

• You may file a complaint with OSHA if your employer retaliates against you by taking unfavorable personnel action because you engaged in protected activity relating to workplace safety and health, commercial motor carrier safety, pipeline safety, air carrier safety, nuclear safety, the environment, asbestos in schools, corporate fraud, SEC rules or regulations, railroad carrier safety or security, or public transportation agency safety or security
• Your employer may be found to have retaliated against you if your protected activity was a contributing or motivating factor in its decision to take unfavorable personnel action against you. Such actions may include:

1. Firing or laying off
2. Blacklisting
3. Demoting
4. Denying overtime or promotion
5. Disciplining
6. Denying benefits
7. Failing to hire or rehire
8. Intimidation
9. Reassignment affecting promotion prospects
10. Reducing pay or hours

• If you believe that your employer retaliated against you because you exercised your legal rights as an employee, contact your local OSHA office as soon as possible, because you must file your complaint within the legal time limits. OSHA conducts an in-depth interview with each complainant to determine whether to conduct an investigation. For more information, call your closest OSHA Regional Office. A complaint can be filed online.  Contact Minnesota OSHA Compliance (OSHA.Compliance@state.mn.us), Phone: 1-877-470-OSHA (1-877-470-6742).

If you have a work related injury due to an OSHA violation, Minnesota law prohibits your employer from discharging or discriminating against you because of a work related injury, illness or disease. If the injured worker can establish that the employer fires or forces to resign an injured worker in retaliation for filing a Workers’ Compensation claim, the worker is allowed under Minnesota work comp to file a civil lawsuit against the employer.

For assistance with your work related retaliation claim, please feel free to contact me.

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Minnesota work injury

According to research done by Performance Improvement International, most work injuries occur on Tuesday. Conversely, research done by Monash University Accident Research Centre for a 20 year period found that there were more injuries on Mondays (23.6% of the total) than on Tuesdays (21.8%), than on Wednesdays (20.3%), than on Thursdays (18%), than on Fridays (16.3%). There were more injuries in the mornings than in the afternoons for every day of the working week.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports

• 87% percent of injuries and illnesses occurred on Monday through Friday, except in the leisure and hospitality sector, where 27% of injuries and illnesses occurred during the weekend.
• The eight-hour period from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. accounted for 65% of the day away from work cases reported in 2006. The 4:00 p.m. to midnight time period accounted for 20% of the cases.
• Workers on the job from two to four hours before the incident incurred the highest number of injuries and illnesses (248,980 or 26% ). Employees on the job for more than eight hours accounted for 12% of cases.
• More injuries occur at the end of the night shift, at the 2nd part of the shift block, and in the summer. Accident rates are lower on weekends, especially on Sundays.

So what does this information mean for Minnesota workers compensation claims? Unfortunately, not much other than if you have a work injury make sure to report it to your employer immediately. If an injury occurs at the end of your shift, make sure to report it to your supervisor and seek medical treatment.

If you have any question feel free to contact me at my website.

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Permanent partial disability

Workers Compensation benefits are different than damages you might receive if you are involved in another type of personal injury. Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) Benefits are benefits that are intended to compensate an injured worker for permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function.

In order to make the permanency uniform, the permanent partial disability rules have been developed.  In some situations, these guidelines require there be some objective measures (i.e. MRI, CT scans, etc.) to form a basis for a PPD rating.

A work injury only needs to substantially aggravate, accelerate or combine with a pre-existing condition for the permanency to be related.

The PPD rules provide specific categories which represent various disabling conditions. The category that best represents the disabling conditions is to be selected. If there are several conditions, these rating for each condition will need to be combined. Also, it may be that the PPD rules do not cover a certain condition but the injured worker suffers permanent functional impairment.  In this case, a “Weber” rating may be assigned.

Permanent Partial Disability benefits are calculated by multiplying the percentage of permanent partial disability designated in the rules (Minn. R. 5223.0300 to 5223.0650) to the dollar amount listed for that percentage.

0-5 % – $75,000

6-10% – $80,000

11-15% – $85,000

16-20% – $90,000

21-25% – %95,000

26-30% – $100,000

31-35% – $110,000

36-40% -$120,000

41-45% – $130,000

46-50% – $140,000

51-55% – $165,000

56-60% – $190,000

61-65% – $215,000

66-70% – $240,000

71-75% – $265,000

76-80% -$315,000

81-85% – $365,000

86-90% – $415,000

91-95% – $465,000

96-100% – $515,000

Permanent partial disability is payable at the end of temporary total disability benefits unless the employee requests a lump sum payment. If requested, this sum would be discounted to the present value.

A Health Care Provider Report can be submitted to your treating doctor to determine what, if any, permanent partial disability you may have.

If you are having trouble getting the permanency you are owed, please feel free to contact me through my website.

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Medical Options for Injured Workers

After a Minnesota work related injury, many injured workers assume that the Minnesota employer and workers’ compensation insurer will automatically pay for the injury and the related medical expenses. Unfortunately, there are many times when the insurance company denies the claim and refuses to pay for the medical treatment. The injured worker is then responsible for obtaining the necessary medical treatment on his or her own until a judicial determination can be made. Depending on the case, this could take in upwards of a year before the case is heard. The injured worker is left with limited options including, submitting the bills to their private health insurance, applying for medical assistance, going into debt as long as possible or not receiving the reasonable and necessary treatment.

In the United States there are over 46.3 million people without health insurance. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities some 24.4 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were uninsured, almost triple the rate of 8.5 percent among people with incomes over $75,000. African-Americans (19.6 percent uninsured) and Hispanics (32.7 percent) were much more likely to be uninsured than white, non-Hispanic people (11.3 percent).

Roughly 666,000 Minnesotans receive health care through the state’s three publicly funded basic health care programs — Medical Assistance (MA) — Minnesota’s Medicaid program, General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) and MinnesotaCare.  For more information click here. Even with these programs in place,over 453,000 Minnesotans go without health insurance according to the U.S Census Bureau.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) administers these programs and pays all or part of enrollees’ medical bills for:

Medical Assistance (MA) (Minnesota’s Medicaid program)  is the largest of the health care programs, providing health care coverage and prescription medication coverage for a monthly average of 507,000 low-income senior citizens, children and families, and people with disabilities in fiscal year (FY) 2007.

General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) provides medical care for a monthly average of 33,000 (FY 2007) low-income Minnesotans who don’t qualify for MA or other state and federal programs — primarily low-income adults, ages 21 and 64, who do not have any dependent children.

MinnesotaCare is a publicly subsidized program for Minnesota residents who don’t have access to affordable health care coverage. In order to eligbile you must meet the following:

• Have a Social Security number or be willing to apply for one (unless you have religious objections);
• Live in Minnesota;
• If you are an adult and do not have children living with you, or if your children are over age 21, you must have lived in Minnesota for six months;
• Be a U.S. citizen or non-citizen lawfully residing in the U.S.;
• Not have other health insurance now or have had health insurance (including Medicare), for at least four months except for Medical Assistance enrollees whose health insurance premium was paid for by Medical Assistance; and
• Not be able to get health insurance through an employer who offers to pay at least half the monthly cost.

Assistance in applying can be found here.

The only way an injured worker can get back to work is to get the necessary medical treatment. If you find yourself without medical insurance and the workers’ compensation insurer refuses to pay for your medical treatment, look into contacting the state and/or county for assistance. MinnesotaHelp.info is another great resource for help.

If you find yourself with a denied claim, contact an attorney. An attorney can assist you by guideing you through the process and providing you with options. If you would like to speak with an attorney, feel free to contact me at jsisk@noacklawoffice.com.

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We are always looking for a few good bloggers.

Whether you have an idea for a single guest post, a plan for a series of posts, or you want to become a regular contributor to CompWonk, feel free to email us your proposal.

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dependency benefits work comp Minnesota

This August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a report titled, “Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2008.” The Bureau reported that a total of 5,071 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2008, down from a total of 5,657 fatal work injuries reported for 2007.  Some other key finding included:

• Fatal workplace falls, which had risen to a series high in 2007, also declined by 20 percent in 2008. Workplace suicides were up 28 percent to a series high of 251 cases in 2008, but workplace homicides declined 18 percent in 2008.
• Fatal occupational injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers in 2008 were 17 percent lower than in 2007.  Fatalities among non-Hispanic Black or African American workers were down 16 percent.
• The number of fatal workplace injuries in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations rose 6 percent in 2008 after declining in 2007. Transportation incidents, which accounted for approximately two-fifths of all the workplace fatalities in 2008, fell 13 percent from the previous series low of 2,351 cases reported in 2007.

After a fatal injury, typically the deceased worker leaves behind family and loves ones. The deceased worker’s family is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits in the form of dependency benefits and burial expenses.

Under work comp, the employer and insurer are responsible for paying the burial expenses up to $15,000. Additionally, workers’ compensation benefits are payable to the deceased workers’ dependents. Where dependency compensation is payable, Minnesota work comp provides that a minimum of $60,000 in dependency compensation must be paid.

Dependency benefits are payable to dependent survivors of employees who die from injuries arising out of and in the course of employment. In order for the dependent survivors to receive benefits, the work-related injury or disease must be a substantial causal factor in the employee’s death.

In order to received benefits the potential recipient must be a dependent. Dependents of the employee include:

1. spouse;
2. children under eighteen years of age, or a child under the age of 25 years who is regularly attending as a full-time student at a high school, college or university or regularly attending as a full-time student in a course of vocational or technical training; or
3. children eighteen years of age or over eighteen, when physically or mentally incapacitated from earning.

A wife, child, husband, mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, grandchild, sister, brother, mother-in-law, father in-law, wholly supported by a deceased worker at the time of death and for a reasonable time prior thereto are considered actual dependents of the deceased worker and compensation shall be paid to them in the order named.

Minnesota workers’ compensation allows for various payments to surviving spouses and dependent children. Often times issues arise concerning payments to children, spouses, step-children, etc following a fatal work injury. These situations can be difficult to handle on your own. It is recommended you consult with a Minnesota workers’ compensation attorney trained in his area of law to ensure you get the benefits you are entitled to under work comp.

If you have questions concerning a dependency claim, please feel free to contact me through my website.

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