Workers Compensation
| Recovery of Costs, Attorney's Fees, and Interest in Workers' Compensation Actions |
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| Generally, parties in workers' compensation actions are responsible for their own attorney's fees and costs. The amount of attorney's fees that can reasonably be charged to a claimant in pursuing his claim for benefits is specifically outlined in many state statutes. For example, some states will cap attorney's fees at a specified dollar amount; others will cap such fees at a designated percentage of the amount recovered as benefits by the claimant. More... |
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| Supplemental Security Income for Children |
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| Children who are blind or disabled are eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The Social Security Administration (SSA) considers a "child" to be an unmarried individual who is under age 18 or, if under age 22, is a student who regularly attends school. A "child" cannot be the head of a household. There is no minimum age requirement; a child may be eligible for benefits from birth. More... |
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| Nonprofit and Charitable Employers |
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| Nonprofit and charitable employers are not treated the same in every state for purposes of workers' compensation. Some states expressly exclude them from the operation of the workers' compensation statute while others expressly include them or neglect to address them at all. Despite this, the majority of jurisdictions hold that nonprofit and charitable employers are, in fact, subject to the workers' compensation system. Such employers may include churches and synagogues, educational institutions, charitable organizations such as the Salvation Army that are designed to aid the community, and the like. More... |
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| Workers' Compensation and Third Party Actions |
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| Avoiding a Double Recovery) More... |
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| Traveling To and From Work |
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| Employees do not only suffer injuries while actively in the service of their employer. Some injuries occur outside working hours while the employee is traveling to or from work. Workers' compensation for such injuries may be recovered only if they occur on the employer's premises. The employer's "premises" is not just that area in which the employee normally works or where the majority of work performed for the employer takes place. Rather, "premises" encompasses the entire grounds of the employer including all buildings and structures thereon as well as parking lots. Generally, compensation will be denied if the employee was injured elsewhere. Additionally, this "going and coming" rule for compensability is only applicable when the employee has established working hours and a set working location. More... |
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