Redmond, Redmond & Yokom
Attorneys at Law
480 West Lovell
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
Toll Free: 888 573-0114
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Workers Compensation
If you need to understand your rights relating to Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability, Attorney Matthew Yokom can assist you. You should not have to face these issues without the help of an expert. Call Attorney Yokom for assistance with these matters.
Michigan's Basic Information
Michigan's Workers Disability Compensation Act requires the vast majority of Michigan employers (and/or their Worker's Compensation Insurance Company) to provide injured workers the three following types of benefits if they are injured in the course and scope of their employment:
A. Medical Benefits: Any and all costs related to the care and treatment of a work related injury must be paid by the employer (or its workers' compensation insurance company) including costs and fees associated with the following:
- Emergency Rooms and Hospitals
- Surgeries
- Doctors
- Physical Therapy
- X-rays, MRIs, CT-Scans, and other diagnostic tests such as EMGs, NCVs, Laboratory tests, etc.
- At home care whether provided by a visiting nurse or nurses aid or family members or friends.
- Mileage to and from hospitals, doctors, physical therapy or even the drug store. (The reimbursable mileage rate applicable to workers' compensation in second half of 2008 is $0.585/mile.)
- Medical supplies such as crutches, canes, braces, etc.
- Prescription and medication expense
B. Weekly Wage loss benefits: If the injured worker is off work for seven days, then he or she is entitled to receive weekly wage loss benefits. If you or the injured worker is off work for 10 or more days, the weekly wage loss benefits are retroactive to the first day of missed work.
An injured worker's Weekly Wage Loss Benefits (WWLB) are based on the injured worker's gross pay (before any deductions are subtracted from pay). The AWW is based upon all pay and includes overtime and bonuses. The highest 39 weeks of the 52 weeks of gross pay (earned immediately before the date of injury) are added together and then divided by 39 to arrive at the injured worker's Average Weekly Wage (AWW). If the injured worker has worked less than 39 weeks for the employer during the 52 weeks before injury, then the total gross pay for the weeks worked before injury is divided by the actual number of weeks worked to arrive at the AWW need to calculate the WWLB. In a significant number of cases, but not all, the value of any discontinued employment fringe benefits may also be added to the AWW which may then increase the WWLB.
The WWLB is supposed to be 80% of the injured worker's after tax AWW. Practically, speaking, the best way to calculate this is to use a program made available on the State of Michigan Worker's Compensation Agency website that can be found at http://www.michigan.gov/wca/ . There is a cap on the maximum amount of WWLB that an injured worker may receive. The following are maximum amounts that an injured worker may receive varies according to the year in which the injury occurred: See, for instance, the following Maximum WWLB for the following years.
| Year of Injury | Maximum Weekly -
Wage Loss Benefit |
| 2005 | $689.00 |
| 2006 | $706.00 |
| 2007 | $723.00 |
| 2008 | $739.00 |
The injured worker would be entitled to receive WWLB until he or she is returned to work, dies, goes to jail or refuses a reasonable offer of employment (i.e. a job within restrictions set by a responsible physician within a reasonable distance from the employee's home) or vocational rehabilitation. Very often, an injured worker is sent by his or her employer to a so-called "independent medical evaluation." All too frequently the evaluation is neither independent nor unbiased. The employer or it's worker's compensation insurance company hires and pays the doctor to determine if the condition is caused by a work injury or if the injured employee can return to work which would then decrease the amount of weekly wage loss benefits (WWLB) that the employee would receive. Frankly, if these so-called independent medical evaluators are not working within the "red-light district" of medicine then they are very frequently about the most conservative physicians that can be found. Real problems often arise when these type of doctors, after having seen the injured worker for a few minutes, return an injured worker to unrestricted work even if the worker's actual treating doctor, who often has treated the worker for weeks if not months, would not return the worker to unrestricted work.
C. Vocational Rehabilitation Benefits: Michigan's Workers' Disability Compensation Act specifies that an injured workers may be entitled to vocational retraining, for up to two years, to be paid for by the employer or its' workers' compensation insurance company. This benefit may be of considerable value to the injured worker that allows him or her to learn a new trade or skills that makes them employable even with a permanent restriction. Too often, however, Vocational Rehabilitation programs are used as a weapon by case managers and workers' compensation claims representatives to justify cutting off Weekly Wage Loss Benefits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What to do when injured on the job?
Immediately report any injury to your supervisor verbally and at the same time, request that a written injury report be made out. If at all possible, get a copy of the written injury report. If possible, when you verbally report the injury to your boss, have a have a trustworthy co-worker present or, preferably, a union steward witness the verbal injury report.
Report any injury even if you think that it is "nothing serious." All too often a worker originally thinks that, for instance, a back or shoulder pain is "just" a minor strained muscle and it is not worth reporting or is concerned that their boss will think they are whining. Later on, when the pain becomes significantly worse (usually the next morning or over the next couple of days) the injured worker realizes that he or she may have a significant back or shoulder injury. When the injured worker then comes into work and reports the injury a day or two later, the employer is suspicious that the injury really occurred when the injured employee was off work.
Even if you don't immediately report the injury on the day it occurred, you should still report the injury, verbally and in writing as soon as possible, even if it is days or weeks later. It is better to report it late than not report it at all.
Read any injury report over carefully and make sure it is accurate. If it isn't, correct it or don't sign it. Do not ever sign a blank or incomplete injury report. It is sad to say that sometimes employers later add incorrect things to an injury report. This is another reason to always get a copy of the injury report at the time you sign it.
Can I choose the Doctor who will treat me?
If you suffer a work related injury, the employer is entitled to chose who will treat you, but only for the first ten (10) days. On the eleventh (11th) day after you start treatment for the work related injury, you have the right to chose who will treat you and it is the employer's obligation to pay for that treatment.
What should I do if I am not provided wage loss or medical benefits?
Please feel free to call Attorney Matthew Yokom at Redmond, Redmond & Yokom (269) 324-4008 for further information and representation. Any initial consultation is free and, generally, there is no attorney fee owed unless we are able to obtain benefits for you once the employer or the workers' compensation insurance company fails or refuses to provide them.
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