By Peter J. Gough, Esq.

Under the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law, an injured employee who returns to work with some restrictions, or who keeps working with restrictions after suffering a work injury, may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if laid off.

Pennsylvania law allows a reinstatement of workers’ compensation benefits when you can prove that you have not completely recovered from your work injury and your employer no longer has appropriate work for you. However, this does not happen automatically. You must file for reinstatement of benefits within either three years of the date of the most recent payment of compensation or within 500 weeks of when benefits were suspended, depending upon the facts of your case.

Even if you got hurt at work and never filed a claim, you still have up to three years to get benefits if you were still having physical problems from the work injury at the time of the layoff. You may file for reinstatement even if you are receiving unemployment compensation benefits. The employer would be entitled to a credit for the unemployment compensation benefits.

The bottom line is that you may be entitled to wage loss and medical benefits if the following apply:

• You got hurt at work
• You are still suffering from the work injury
• Your work injury makes it more difficult or prevents you from performing the job duties you were able to do before your injury
• Due to no fault of your own, you have been laid off or are earning less than you did before the injury

If the above facts apply to you, act now; make an appointment with one of our workers’ compensation attorneys.