Best Employment Lawyers in Harrisburg, PA

If a panel physician recommends surgery within the first ninety days after your work injury, the injured worker is entitled to get a second opinion from their own choice of physicians. The employer must pay for this second opinion. If the procedure is recommended by the second opinion then the injured worker must have the surgical procedure performed by one of the panel physicians if the second opinion and the surgical procedure are to take place within the first ninety days after the work injury. If the ninety days have expired, then the injured worker is free to select a non-panel physician to perform the recommended surgical procedure if the injured worker chooses to proceed with the surgery after a second opinion. Choosing a doctor for a second surgical opinion and the decision selecting the physician to perform a work-related surgical procedure are often difficult issues.

Yes, your employer must provide you with a copy of the panel list of physicians along with a notice and acknowledgment of your rights at both the time of hire and, most importantly, soon after your injury is reported to your employer. If your employer fails in either circumstance, you may treat with any healthcare provider of your choosing and you will not be limited in the first ninety days after the work injury to treat with a company doctor on the panel list of physicians.

If you are injured on the job, your employer may offer you a light duty job that fits within your restrictions at or below your pre-injury average weekly wage. The employer is not obligated by any rule or law to make such modified work available for any specific period. However, if the employer discontinues the light duty work and your earnings loss is, therefore, once again, caused by no fault of your own (i.e. layoff or discontinued employment) then you are arguably entitled to an automatic reinstatement of your temporary total disability benefits. There are certain legal thresholds that must be met to obtain a reinstatement of temporary total disability benefits.

You may, at the expiration of the 500 weeks of partial disability benefits, petition within three years to reinstate your benefits to total disability benefits. If your benefits were suspended at the end of the 500-week partial disability period and you received benefit payments within the last three years, you may file for a reinstatement to total disability benefits within three years of the last date of payment. Reinstating benefits to total disability benefits after receipt of partial disability benefits or a suspension of benefits can be a complicated matter. We can help.

If you are injured on the job and continue to work in any capacity, your treatments for your work injury including physical therapy will often occur during regular working hours. It is advisable that the injured worker attempt to schedule medical appointments outside of regular working hours in order to avoid this type of conflict with the employer. However, there are circumstances wherein treatment must occur during working hours. If this circumstance arises, certain factors must be met to allow the injured worker to attend such appointments and there will be issues over payment of wages and possible partial disability benefits for the earnings loss due to medically required treatments that cause an earnings loss in any particular workweek. The issue of attending medical appointments during the workweek for a work related injury should be discussed with an experienced attorney. Any miscalculation of these Partial Disability benefits could cause the injured worker in Pennsylvania to lose a good amount of money that they are rightfully entitled to receive.