Taunton Workers' Compensation

The Massachusetts workers' compensation system is designed to make sure that you can recover benefits to compensate you for time you need to take away from work and your medical bills if you are hurt or made sick on the job. The type of work-related injury you suffer and the extent to which you are disabled determines what type and amount of benefits you can potentially receive. The benefits may be temporary or permanent, and partial or full. If you are hurt at a job in Taunton or the surrounding area, the experienced workers' compensation lawyers at Pulgini & Norton can help you pursue a claim for benefits.

If you are temporarily disabled for six or more calendar days, you may be eligible for temporary and total incapacity benefits. What will be paid to you weekly is a portion of your gross average weekly wage. You can determine what this figure should be by taking your gross earnings, dividing it by the number of weeks worked, and multiplying the result by 60%.

If your physician believes you are permanently disabled, you may apply for permanent benefits even before you receive all of the temporary disability benefits. These are 2/3 of your average weekly wage. The minimum an insurer can pay is 20% of the state average weekly wage, adjusted for cost of living. You can receive these benefits for as long as you are unable to work due to a job-related disability.

What if you are injured in a car accident on your way to or from work? Under the coming and going rule, employees injured in collisions on the way to a job at a fixed location, or leaving the location, cannot recover workers' compensation benefits. However, if you are hurt while traveling for work or while you are working, you may be able to receive benefits. The two critical questions if you are injured away from the office are whether you were being paid at the time of the accident and whether you were reimbursed for the cost of travel between your home and a work site. If you were reimbursed for the cost of travel or being paid for your travel time, your injuries may be compensable. For example, if your job entails setting up audio equipment at other companies' locations, and you do not work from an office, your job duties may include driving to the sites where you will set up the equipment. Under those circumstances, car accident injuries sustained while driving to or from the site may be a basis for benefits.

You may also be able to recover benefits if your car accident happens in the company parking lot. If a car accident happens in a company parking lot, and the employer owes a legal duty to maintain the lot or requires you to park there, you may be able to recover workers' compensation.

Taunton is located about 40 miles south of Boston in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest towns in the country and was founded in 1637. If you need to bring a workplace accident claim in Taunton, you should enlist the attorneys at Pulgini & Norton. Call us at 781-843-2200 or contact us via our online form for a free consultation.