Minnesota Workers Compensation Lawyers – Law Office of Thomas Mottaz
Most employers in Minnesota are required to have Minnesota Workers’ Compensation insurance, or for some companies, be self-insured. There are certain limited situations where an employer may not need to have coverage, however, in most situations they are required to have workers’ compensation insurance on their employees.
Even though a Minnesota employer may not have workers’ compensation insurance at the time of an injury, there are laws in place protecting injured workers.
Injuries can range from strains to fractures to no wage loss to being permanently and totally disabled where you can never return to work. The benefits an injured worker receives depends on the injury and whether that injury continues to remain a substantial contributing factor in their disability. Tied into this is the limits on the four types of benefits that an injured employee is entitled. I have previously written on the benefits available. That being said, an injured worker can receive certain benefits for the rest of their life, as long as the injury continues to be a “substantial contributing cause.”
Accepting a retirement package or severance will not preclude you from receiving benefits including lost wages.
In cases of voluntary termination, the injured worker’s right to wage loss benefits is suspended until the injured worker can show that the work-related disability is the cause for the inability to find or hold new employment. This can be established by work restrictions and an active job search on the part of the injured worker.
Minnesota workers’ compensation has many abbreviations that get used by adjusters, attorneys, employers, etc. Understanding what they represent is a difficult task for employee’s who have never dealt with workers’ compensation. The following is a list of common abbreviations and terms used. Some people may abbreviate terms differently, but hopefully it will provide some guidance in distinguishing the various abbreviations.
