One of the most precarious parts of a workers’ compensation claim comes when the claimant gets at or near the end of treatment. We call this the point of “maximum medical improvement”, or MMI. Sometimes, the claimant will be placed on permanent work restrictions, such as no lifting, bending, etc. The insurance company is all about minimizing what they will have to pay on the claim, so sometimes they will get together with the employer to come up with a job that meets the restrictions, such as a desk job, just to show that the claimant can work and that work is available. The problem is that often, that job will be eliminated soon after the workers’ comp claim is over. These are “difficult waters” to navigate through, and should be done in consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.
The bottom line is that if work is available that the claimant can do, we want him to return to work. But we also want it to be a “real” job that will last for a meaningful period of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment