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Employment
& Job Injury
Alabama's
Worker's Compensation ActCalculation
of Compensation
A
Sample Case
About
Alabama's Worker's Compensation Act
No
Fault Compensation and Benefits
Alabama's Worker's Compensation Act provides injured
workers certain limited compensation and medical
benefits without the injured worker having to
show that the employer was at fault in causing
the worker's injuries. However, not all employees
are subject to the Worker's Compensation Act.
There are certain exemptions, including domestic
servants, farm laborers, casual employees, and
employers who regularly employ less than five
employees.
Injury
or Death Liability
An employer is liable under the Alabama Worker's
Compensation Code for benefits where there is
an injury or death of an employee caused by an
accident arising out of and in the course of employment.
Cumulative trauma and continuous exposure can
also be a compensible accident under the Worker's
Compensation Act.
5
Days to Report Injuries
Generally, notice must be given to an employer
within five days and the notice should be in writing.
A savings clause indicates that notice can be
provided up to 90 days from the accident, but
an employee may forfeit benefits up to the time
of notification if the employer is not notified
within five days.
Statute of Limitations—2 years from
Date of Injury
The Alabama Worker's Compensation Code also provides
for civil non-jury trials of all worker's compensation
actions. Those civil actions are declared to be
preferred actions to be tried as expeditiously
as possible. The Statute of Limitations for such
action is two years from the date of the accident,
or two years from the date that the employee was
last paid compensation, whichever is later.
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Calculation
of Compensation—Scheduled and Unscheduled Injuries
During
the period of time that an employee is totally
unable to work, the employee is entitled to two-thirds
of his/her average weekly wages based on an average
of wages for the 52 weeks before the accident.
Fringe benefits are to be part of that calculation
as well. Following an accident, if an employee
is permanently partially disabled, then compensation
pay may be made in one of two ways. If only certain
parts of the body are affected by the accident,
then the injury can be treated as a "scheduled
injuries" in which the Worker's Compensation Code
sets a payment rate for particular portions of
the anatomy that are injured.
The
second method is compensation for "unscheduled
injuries" where the physical injury extends to
other parts of the body and interferes with their
efficiency, thus ultimately affecting the injured
employee's ability to earn wages.
This
calculation is further complicated by the fact
that if an injured employee returns to work at
the same wage rate before the injury, then the
employee is only entitled to be compensated for
their percentage of physical impairment. If the
employee returns to lower wages, then the employee
is entitled to offer evidence of a vocational
loss which takes into account the employee's education,
training, skills, and work history. If an injured
worker who returns to work at the same pay rate
loses the job for any reason within 300 weeks,
then the employee may petition the Court for reconsideration
of a vocational loss as compared to being compensated
for a physical loss.
Coverage
of Cost for Medical Expenses and Care
An
employer is further obligated to pay the actual
cost of reasonably necessary medical and surgical
treatment, physical rehabilitation, medicine,
medical and surgical supplies, crutches, artificial
members, and other apparatus as may be needed
by an injured employee. The employer chooses the
treating physician and if the employee becomes
dissatisfied with this physician, the employee
is entitled to select a second physician from
a panel or list of four physicians selected by
the employer. If a treating physician believes
that an injured worker cannot return to his or
her former job, and the worker requests vocational
rehabilitation, then upon written confirmation
by a vocational rehabilitation specialist and
the treating physician, the employer shall bear
the cost of rehabilitation.
If
an employee is injured to the extent where he
or she is unable to perform his/her regular occupation
or is unable to obtain reasonably gainful employment,
then that employee is considered to be permanently
and totally disabled. In that case, the employee
is entitled to receive two-thirds of his or her
average weekly earnings for the entire duration
of the permanent total disability, which could
be for the life of the employee.
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Dependent
Compensation
There
is an entirely different method for compensating
dependents if an on-the-job injury causes death
of the employee. Compensation for death is set
at 50% of average weekly wages if there is one
dependent and 66 2/3% of average weekly wages
if there are two or more dependents. If a worker
dies without dependents, then $7500.00 is to be
paid to the employee's estate. Payments are made
for 500 weeks maximum, or the ending of the dependency
of the dependents, whichever comes first.
A
Sample Case
Crowley
v. The Heil Corp.
A
DeKalb County jury found that The Heil Corporation,
the manufacturer of garbage truck bodies, had
mistreated one of its workers after an on-the-job
injury.
Before
suffering a back injury, our client had won accolades
from his employer because of the quality work
he was doing. After a back injury, he was forced
to sit isolated in a room where he was told to
answer a telephone that never rang. This was Heil's
version of "light duty." However, he
refused to quit and when he went back into the
plant, his supervisor was told to watch and write
him up for any minor infraction. Soon thereafter,
he was terminated.
The
jury found that The Heil Company had terminated
our client solely for filing a worker's compensation
claim, awarding him for lost wages and emotional
distress. Heil was also punished for its wrongful
conduct.
The
jury's verdict was affirmed on appeal by the Alabama
Supreme Court.
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