According to the worker’s compensation law, if the worker cannot continue employment after a work injury, he or she is entitled to receive a permanent total disability payment. A worker can receive a total of 500 weeks of partial disability payments. But if the employee has a permanent total disability, they will be providing total weekly benefits for their entire life. The permanent total benefits are continued till the worker is alive. It only stops when the worker is dead, not just at age 65.
However, obtaining a permanent total disability payment can be complicated. A Worker’s Compensation Lawyer and vocational expert can help in giving expert advice regarding the level of impairment suffered by the victim as well as the possible legal remedies. Moreover, a lawyer will also help you speak to a vocational expert and ensure you get the maximum compensation.
Perks of a vocational expert
A vocational expert can help establish that a person in employment has a permanent total disability. They can assist in the following ways.
- Vocational experts can help analyze work restrictions to decide what tasks will be impossible for the injured employee to perform. They can assist in determining the limitations of a worker who has suffered an injury and tell them what tasks are harmful to them.
- Vocational experts help explain why an employee with limited schooling and no computer expertise will have difficulty transitioning into occupations that do not need physical labor.
- The vocational experts give information regarding the time length of re-training required for injured employees and the potential of success from that retraining. They give their opinions if the retraining will be beneficial or not.
- Vocational experts assist in addressing problems like an injured employee who can only lift things in light assembly work but is restricted in bending or twisting, which can exclude them from performing the assembly job.
- Vocational experts are the professionals that can cite the studies and statistics to display that most employers avoid hiring older workers who are physically limited due to their previous injuries.
- Vocational experts perform job surveys and conduct job placement efforts to detect the issues injured workers face in getting new employment. They do a detailed analysis of all the grievances injured workers and physically limited employees suffered.
- After identifying all the issues, the vocational experts provide valuable conclusions about the uncertainty of employees returning to the labor market after facing severe injury.