Workers Compensation Lawyer and Attorney
Rochester, MN

The law firm of Patterson & Associates can provied experienced workers compensation lawyers and attorneys in Rochester MN. Workers Compensation Under Minnesota law, workers who are injured at work are paid benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act.  There are six types of benefits under which injured workers should be covered. 

First - temporary total disability.  To get this benefit, your doctor must tell you not to work, and you must not work.  A second way to get this benefit is if your doctor says you may work with restrictions placed upon you by the doctor, and, if you make a reasonable effort to find work within your restrictions, you may also draw temporary total disability.  Temporary total disability is paid at the rate of two-thirds of your average gross weekly wage.  If your doctor says you can work either full-time or part-time, and your employer offers you work, you must attempt to do it.  You are not allowed to take off work merely because you hurt.

Second - temporary partial disability.  If you are unable to work full time, and a doctor states that fact, you may draw temporary partial disability.  If, on a week by week basis, after you are injured, your wage is less than it was before your injury, and the reason it is less is that you are working fewer hours or making less per hour and that this is on the instruction of your doctor, you may draw temporary partial disability.  Temporary partial disability is paid at the rate of two-thirds of the difference between what you made before you were hurt and what you make each week in your partially disabled condition.

Third, permanent partial disability.  If you have a permanent injury, a doctor may rate the percentage of permanent overall bodily disability on the specific injury.  He must do this and point to a specific guideline under the workers’ compensation laws.  If there is no guideline, he may compare it to a guideline that, in his opinion, disables you as much as the guideline in question.

Fourth, if you are unable to ever work as a result of your injury, permanent total disability benefits with a certain minimum permanent partial disability can be paid for life at the same rate as temporary total disability benefits.

Fifth, you are entitled to reasonable and necessary medical expenses which includes medical bills and mileage at the rate of .375 a mile to and from the doctor. If you wish to change physicians for the purpose of medical treatment, you must do one of three things first:
1. You must receive permission from the employer or insurer

2. You must be referred to another physician by your attending physician

3. You must petition the Workers’ Compensation Division in St. Paul requesting a change in physicians.

If you see another doctor without one of the above pre-requisites being satisfied, the employer and insurer will not have to pay for your medical bills.

Sixth, if you are unable to find work as a result of your injury, in certain instances, rehabilitation benefits can be provided. This includes helping you hunt for work in addition to possible re-training.

If you have experienced one of the displacement injuries described above or had a Workers’ Compensation claim rejected, contact Patterson & Associates.  You may be entitled to benefits.

Thomas Patterson has been exclusively representing Workers’ Compensation clients since 1995.  There is no charge for the consultation to review your case, and you will pay nothing unless your case results in receiving compensation.  You need an advocate to assure you receive the compensation that is rightfully yours. Patterson & Associates will represent you fairly and aggressively to make sure you receive all the benefits due under Minnesota state law.

Reference
Worker’s Compensation Reinsurance Association
Department of Labor & Industry
Mapquest Instructions
National Weather Service
Worker’s Compensation Court of Appeals
Office of Administrative Hearings

Mileage Log (PDF)
Job Search Log (PDF)

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