In North Carolina, most injured workers are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Those benefits include payment for medical expenses, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation. While most workers’ compensation claims involve medical expenses and lost wage benefits, vocational rehabilitation applies when an injured worker cannot return to their pre-injury job because of the injury they sustained at work.
What Are Rehabilitation Benefits?
Vocational rehabilitation benefits pay for an injured worker’s education or training so they can get a new job after their work injury prevents them from continuing working in their pre-injury position. For example, a warehouse worker may have severely injured their lower back in a forklift accident and can no longer perform manual labor tasks. That worker may receive vocational rehabilitation benefits that allow them to perform a less strenuous job at the same company or a different one.
Vocational rehabilitation aims to get the injured employee back to work. However, it’s important to remember that the insurance company wants you to get back to work so it can stop paying your benefits. While vocational rehabilitation benefits employees, employers, and insurance companies are also incentivized to get employees back to work as soon as possible, even to the employee’s detriment.
Who Qualifies for Rehabilitation Benefits?
Employees typically receive rehabilitation benefits after reaching their maximum medical improvement (MMI). This is the point at which further treatment will not result in further recovery. At this stage, your permanent work restrictions are known and can be taken into account.
However, to qualify for rehabilitation benefits, you must either:
- Have not yet returned to work after your injury, or
- Have returned to work but make 75 percent or less of your pre-injury wages
If you meet either of these criteria, you can receive vocational rehabilitation benefits to help you find a new job that meets your physical work restrictions and financial needs.
Challenges Injured Workers Face in Receiving Rehabilitation Benefits
Injured workers face two primary challenges when seeking rehabilitation benefits. The first challenge is showing that these benefits are necessary. Workers’ compensation insurance companies don’t want to have to pay for vocational rehabilitation if they can get away with it. So, they may push back against the necessity of the injured worker’s rehabilitation.
The second challenge is keeping the rehabilitation benefits. Insurance companies generally want injured workers to return to work as soon as possible so they can stop paying for benefits. This can lead to insurance companies pressuring workers to accept jobs that may not be a good fit.
How Kreger Brodish Can Help
If you were injured on the job in North Carolina, our workers’ compensation lawyers can help you seek the benefits you need, including medical expense payment, lost wage reimbursement, and vocational rehabilitation. We’ll also help you identify roles you may be able to fill with the help of vocational rehabilitation and will deal with the insurance company on your behalf so you can focus on your recovery.
Contact Kreger Brodish LLP for a free consultation with an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation lawyer. During your consultation, we’ll review your case, explain your options for seeking the compensation you deserve, and go over the types of workers’ compensation benefits you may be eligible for.
