Workers' compensation is meant to give you medical care and wage benefits after a job injury. The process gets harder once treatment, work restrictions, or payments come into question. A Mississippi workers' compensation lawyer from Richard Schwartz & Associates can help sort out where your claim stands, what the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission (MWCC) requires, and how we should proceed in pursuit of earned benefits.
Our team fights for injured people across Mississippi, including employees with workplace claims. From our six offices, we handle matters involving denied benefits, disputed medical treatment, disability payments, Commission filings, and hearings.
Call (601) 800-5559 for a free case review, any hour of the day.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Workers' Compensation Is Its Own (Complicated) System in Mississippi
- What Benefits Will My Mississippi Workers' Comp Attorney Be Fighting For?
- How Quickly Must You Report a Mississippi Work Injury?
- How Long Does a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Lawyer Have to File a Claim?
- What Should I Document After a Work Injury?
- What Happens When Benefits or Medical Treatment Become Disputed?
- How Can a Workers' Compensation Lawyer Serving Jackson, MS, Handle a Commission Case?
- Can a Work Injury Also Lead to a Third-Party Claim?
- Why Choose Richard Schwartz & Associates for a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Claim?
- FAQs: Get Answers from a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Lawyer
- Workers' Compensation Claims Are Not Easy. Let Us Handle Yours.
Workers' Compensation Is Its Own (Complicated) System in Mississippi
Workers' compensation is different from a typical personal injury lawsuit. For a covered work injury, the central questions generally concern:
- Whether the injury qualifies under Mississippi law
- Which benefits may be available
The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission administers the state's system. A disputed claim can proceed through the Commission rather than beginning as an ordinary negligence lawsuit in a Mississippi trial court.
Questions that can be critical to the outcome of a workers' compensation claim are:
- Whether the worker is a covered employee
- Whether the injury arose out of employment
- Whether proper notice was provided
- Whether treatment relates to the work injury
- Whether the employee can return to work
- Whether permanent limitations remain
- Whether the proper benefits are being paid
These issues make workers' compensation a distinct practice area with its own rules, forms, deadlines, and hearing procedures. Choosing a firm that handles Mississippi workers' comp regularly matters, because the Commission process and the insurance carrier's review each follow their own procedures.
What Benefits Will My Mississippi Workers' Comp Attorney Be Fighting For?
A Mississippi workers' comp attorney can evaluate which benefits you may have earned based on your injury profile, medical evidence, wage-related information, and ability (or inability) to return to work.
Under Mississippi Code § 71-3-15, an employer must furnish reasonable and necessary medical treatment for a covered work injury. The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission's information for injured workers explains that medical benefits may include:
- Doctor visits
- Hospital care
- Surgery
- Prescription medication
- Physical therapy
- Medical equipment
- Certain rehabilitation services
- Qualifying mileage for medical travel
The treatment you need after a workplace injury may continue well beyond the day of the accident, so medical benefits may remain important throughout the claim.
What Are Temporary Disability Benefits?
Temporary total disability, commonly called TTD, generally refers to benefits paid when a qualifying work injury temporarily prevents an employee from working. Temporary partial disability may apply when a worker returns to employment but earns less because of injury-related restrictions. Medical records and wage information can help establish what changed after the injury.
Under Mississippi Code § 71-3-17, disability benefits generally equal two-thirds of the worker's average weekly wage, subject to statutory limits.
What Are Permanent Disability Benefits?
Some workers continue to have limitations after reaching maximum medical improvement, or MMI. MMI means the condition has reached a point where substantial additional improvement is not reasonably expected from further treatment. We can explain further, in layman's terms, when you speak with our team.
Permanent partial disability, commonly called PPD, may become relevant when an injury leaves lasting impairment or loss. Our attorneys can review medical opinions, restrictions, wages, and job duties when permanent disability becomes an issue.
How Quickly Must You Report a Mississippi Work Injury?
Mississippi law generally requires timely notice of a workplace injury. Under Mississippi Code § 71-3-35, you generally must give notice within 30 days of the injury. That notice goes to your employer or to someone authorized to receive it.
An injury report may help document:
- When the accident occurred
- Where it happened
- What work was being performed
- Who received notice
- Which injuries were reported
- Whether anyone witnessed the event
- When medical treatment began
The statute also contains qualifications and exceptions. What qualifies as "notice" is another topic we can discuss with you, and the time-sensitive nature of this discussion underscores why you should contact us as soon as possible.
How Long Does a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Lawyer Have to File a Claim?
Our Mississippi workers' compensation lawyers must consider deadlines specific to the workers' compensation system. These deadlines are not necessarily the same as those governing an ordinary personal injury lawsuit, which is another time-sensitive reason to speak with us soon.
Under Mississippi Code § 71-3-35, if no compensation other than medical treatment or burial expenses has been paid, the statute generally provides a two-year period for filing an application for benefits with the Commission.
Several dates may matter, including the:
- Date of injury
- Date notice was provided
- Date treatment began
- Dates disability payments were made
- Date benefits stopped
- Date Commission documents were filed
We will examine the entire timeline of your injury, notice, and recovery. Other timing rules may apply depending on prior payments and the circumstances of the claim.
What Should I Document After a Work Injury?
Records created after an accident can become important if questions later arise about the injury or benefits. Useful documentation may include:
- An accident or injury report
- Medical records
- Work restrictions
- Wage information
- Prescription records
- Mileage records
- Benefit-payment records
- Communications concerning treatment
- Commission forms
- Written claim notices
These documents can help establish a timeline of the injury, treatment, and benefit history. If you have any of these records or materials, keep them. You can also rely on our team to gather such relevant documentation as we serve as the stewards of your claim.
Important note: Not every claim begins with one identifiable workplace accident. Conditions that build up over time raise different notice and timing questions under the statute, and the filing analysis works differently.
What Happens When Benefits or Medical Treatment Become Disputed?
Not every workers' compensation claim proceeds without disagreement. Questions can arise after benefits begin, after medical treatment is requested, or when the claim is first submitted.
Common disputes may concern:
- Whether an injury is work-related
- Whether notice was timely
- Whether treatment relates to the injury
- How long the employee is unable to work
- Average weekly wages
- Permanent impairment
- Work restrictions
- Whether additional benefits are payable
The Commission publishes General and Procedural Rules governing workers' compensation proceedings. A disputed claim may involve a Petition to Controvert, filed on Commission Form B-5, 11.
"Controvert" means that the claim, or part of the claim, is formally disputed. Medical records, depositions, Commission filings, and hearing evidence can become important once a matter enters the contested process. This is the sort of complication that illustrates why so many injured workers hire our team as soon as possible after their injury, rather than waiting for the claims process to become overly complex.
How Can a Workers' Compensation Lawyer Serving Jackson, MS, Handle a Commission Case?
While we serve many regions throughout the state, a workers' compensation lawyer serving Jackson, MS can represent an injured employee during proceedings before the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission. The Commission is headquartered in Jackson, although its system serves injured workers statewide.
Contested claims can involve hearings before Administrative Judges. An Administrative Judge is the official who hears evidence and decides disputed workers' compensation issues at that stage.
Preparing a claim may involve:
- Gathering medical records
- Reviewing wage information
- Examining work restrictions
- Conducting discovery
- Preparing Commission filings
- Developing medical testimony
- Presenting evidence at a hearing
Not every claim requires every step, so preparation should reflect the actual issues in dispute. This is a high-stakes process that our attorneys handle with calm and composure, knowing that our experience has prepared us for this.
Can a Work Injury Also Lead to a Third-Party Claim?
Yes, some workplace accidents may create both a workers' compensation claim and a separate claim against someone other than the employer or coworker. The two claims involve different legal rules.
Examples can include an employee injured:
- In a crash caused by another motorist while working
- By defective machinery made by another company
- On property controlled by an outside business
- During work involving an outside contractor
The involvement of another person or business does not automatically create a separate case. The facts and applicable law determine whether a third-party injury claim may exist. We will evaluate such facts and applicable law, then explain your circumstances like a human being, rather than in attorney jargon.
Why Choose Richard Schwartz & Associates for a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Claim?
We represent injured Mississippians across the state. Our work includes workers' compensation matters involving medical benefits, wage-loss benefits, disputed claims, and permanent injuries.
Our clients can rest assured that:
- Handling Mississippi injury cases, including workers' compensation matters, is regular work for our team
- Familiarity with the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission process qualifies us to lead such proceedings as your advocates
- Our history handling disputed workers' compensation matters before the Commission
- We are available 24/7
- Our consultations are free (with no strings attached)
These credentials matter when a worker needs help organizing medical evidence, understanding a benefit history, addressing Commission paperwork, or preparing a contested matter.
A disabling injury may also raise questions about other benefit programs. Depending on the circumstances, Social Security Disability benefits may be worth investigating separately from workers' compensation. Call (601) 800-5559 for a free review of your work-injury claim.
FAQs: Get Answers from a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Lawyer
Workers' compensation claims can raise practical questions beyond benefits, deadlines, and Commission hearings. These answers address several concerns injured Mississippi employees may encounter.
Can I Choose My Own Doctor for a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Injury?
Mississippi workers' compensation has rules governing medical treatment and physician selection. The options available can depend on how treatment was selected and what has already happened in the claim.
A Mississippi workers' compensation lawyer can review the treatment history when physician choice or a requested change in care becomes disputed.
Are Mississippi Workers' Compensation Benefits Taxable?
Workers' compensation benefits are generally treated differently from ordinary wages for federal income-tax purposes. Individual tax circumstances can vary, especially when someone receives several forms of income or disability benefits.
Questions about a person's tax obligations should be discussed with an appropriate tax professional.
Can Part-Time Employees Receive Workers' Compensation?
Part-time status does not by itself determine whether an employee is covered. Eligibility depends on the employment relationship, applicable law, and circumstances surrounding the injury.
The worker's earnings may also affect calculations for wage-loss benefits.
What Happens if My Work Injury Gets Worse Later?
A worsening condition can raise questions about additional treatment, disability benefits, and the status of an existing claim. Prior payments, Commission filings, medical evidence, and applicable deadlines may all matter.
Reviewing the claim history can help identify which procedural questions need attention.
Can Workers' Compensation Cover Repetitive-Motion Injuries?
Potentially. Repetitive-motion conditions can raise workers' compensation issues when medical evidence connects the condition to work activities.
These cases may present different medical and timing questions from an injury caused by one identifiable workplace accident.
What if I Cannot Return to Any Type of Work?
A severe work injury can raise questions about long-term workers' compensation disability benefits and other programs. Depending on the circumstances, an employee may also investigate Social Security Disability benefits.
Each program has different eligibility requirements, so qualifying for one does not automatically establish eligibility for another.
Does Every Workers' Compensation Case Require a Hearing?
No. A formal hearing generally becomes relevant when important issues remain disputed and proceed through the Commission's contested process.
The status of the claim and the issues that remain unresolved determine which procedures may be necessary.
Workers' Compensation Claims Are Not Easy. Let Us Handle Yours.
You do not need to understand every Commission form, disability category, medical rule, or deadline before talking with an attorney. In fact, we want to spare you the overwhelm, confusion, and worry that often comes from trying to handle these complicated matters without an attorney.
Whether or not treatment has become disputed, payments have changed, or paperwork has arrived, you should reach out to us. You may simply not understand what the workers' compensation system expects of you, and we can provide an easy-to-follow roadmap.
We can review your medical treatment, work restrictions, benefit history, and claim documents. A Mississippi workers' compensation lawyer can then explain which issues may require attention and how the Commission process may relate to your circumstances.
We serve injured workers from six offices across Mississippi, including Jackson, Tupelo, Hattiesburg, Meridian, Columbus, and Greenville, and our phones are answered around the clock.
Call (601) 800-5559 now for a free case review.