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WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW IF YOU ARE INJURED ON THE JOB
 With few exceptions, employers of 5 or more full or part-time employees are required by Tennessee law to provide their employees with workers' compensation benefits. All contractors in the construction business must have coverage if they have one or more employees. The following are some of the benefits to which an injured covered worker is entitled:
Medical Benefits
- The employer must provide a list of three physicians from which the employee may choose for treatment. Provided the injury occurred in the course and scope of the worker's employment, the bills for these services go directly to the employer.
- Treatment continues for as long as the treating physician deems necessary. Where appropriate, the physician will provide the employee with excuses from work or with light duty restrictions.
Temporary Disability Benefits
- If the injured employee is unable to work for 7 days following the date of the injury, the employee is entitled to receive what is called temporary total disability beginning on the 8th day. If the employee injury prevents his return to work for 14 days, temporary total disability benefits begin on the day following the injury.
- Weekly benefits are two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the employee's gross average weekly wage for the last 52 weeks worked prior to the injury. (This amount is subject to minimum and maximum benefits set out in the state Workers' Compensation Law.)
Permanent Disability Benefits
- When an employee does not fully recover from the injury, he suffers from what is called permanent partial disability. Such an employee may or may not be able to return to his former job. In either case, he is entitled to be compensated for the permanent impairment. Compensation is based upon a physician's medical impairment rating, which is a percentage of disability to the particular body part or to the entire body. Each body part and the entire body have been assigned value by the Legislature for workers' compensation purposes.
Examples are as follows:
| Arm |
200 weeks |
| Hand |
150 weeks |
| Thumb |
60 weeks |
| Foot |
125 weeks |
| Leg |
200 weeks |
| Eye |
100 weeks |
| Hearing |
75 weeks (per ear) |
| Back |
400 weeks |
- The physician's medical impairment rating is combined with vocational factors such as the age and education of the employee to determine a permanent partial disability rating (PPD). The PPD is a percentage that is multiplied times the number of weeks assigned by the Legislature to that particular part of the body. Naturally, if a worker is unable to return to his former job or to a job with equal pay, he is entitled to a higher PPD, which will result in greater compensation for his injury.
- If the employee is permanently and totally disabled as a result of the injury, he should receive 100% of 400 weeks times two-thirds of his average weekly wage.
Protection from Termination
- It is unlawful for an employer to terminate an employee because he reports an on-the-job injury or makes a claim for workers' compensation benefits.
Click here for a free consultation or to receive a free copy of “10 Ways To Get More Money For Your Injury.”
Law Office of David E. Gordon
1850 Poplar Crest Cove, Suite 200
Memphis, Tennessee 38119
(866) 794-7406 main toll free
(901) 881-1538 local office line
(901) 682-8887 facsimile
www.davidgordonlaw.net
David E. Gordon is a Certified Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.
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