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With the holiday season comes a higher demand for seasonal workers — which works out well with the increase in spending that happens around the holidays. Between gift giving, holiday travel, and big holiday meals, many of us see extra strain on our budgets, which makes this the perfect time to pick up a second job.

Even without the holiday season, an estimated 7.8 million Americans have multiple jobs. However, have you ever thought about how a second job might affect your workers’ compensation?

Unfortunately, North Carolina workman’s comp law doesn’t really reward anyone for having a second job. Let’s say that you work 30 hours a week at a bookstore where you make $12 an hour. Then for the holiday season you pick up an additional job at a shopping mall where you work 20 hours a week and make $8 an hour. So in total you’re making $520 a week.

If you injured yourself while working your job at the mall, workers’ compensation would cover you for two-thirds of your weekly salary at that job. Assuming you weren’t earning any additional salary (bonuses, tips, etc.), your workers’ comp benefits would be $96 a week.

Okay, so you only get $96 a week for your second job. But would you get any benefits if your injury caused you to be unable to work the first job as well? Unfortunately not. In North Carolina, you’re only covered for the job you were working when you got injured.

This is definitely something to take into consideration if you take on a second job — particularly if it’s going to be a high-risk, low-paying job. Of course there are other things to take into consideration, such as personal finances. At Oxner + Permar, we care about our clients and our community, and we want to make sure that everyone is making employment decisions with as much knowledge as possible. Call us so we can help.

In North Carolina, workers’ compensation will cover only the job you were doing when you were injured. If you have any questions contact one of our experienced attorneys for a free consultation.

There have been a lot of strong emotions regarding this year’s presidential election. Whether or not you’re happy about it, there’s no refuting the fact that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. So regardless of your personal politics, it’s a good idea to know how the president stands on issues that are relevant to your life. For instance, what exactly is Mr. Trump’s plan for Social Security?

 

Donald Trump’s plan at this point is basically two-fold:

  1. Create jobs to pay into Social Security.
  2. Eliminate the “waste” from Social Security.

 

He believes that in order to save the Social Security program, the economy needs to be reinvigorated first. He says, “the key to preserving social security is to have an economy that is robust and growing.” This is where creating jobs comes into play. The idea is that if there are more jobs, then more people will be paying into social security. If there is more money in social security, then more people can receive the benefits they need.

 

When Trump talks about eliminating waste from Social Security, this refers to eliminating fraudulent claims from the system. For instance, people who have passed away, but whose families are still collecting their social security benefits. If there are fewer people pulling money from the system, then there is more money to go around to those who need it.

 

During one of the Republican Primary debates, Trump had mentioned being okay with the idea of limits being placed on social security based on income. Therefore, billionaires, and those who make so much money they do not need social security benefits, would not be pulling money from the system. However, Trump has not mentioned this idea again since the Primary.

 

If you have any legal questions about your Social Security benefits, be sure to contact an experienced attorney who can help.

Knowing insurance policy limits can be a huge advantage when dealing with a case against a negligent driver and their insurance company. However, in North Carolina, insurance companies are not required to reveal how much insurance the at-fault driver has or what their policy limits are. As such, most insurance companies won’t reveal this information, as it would give you the upper hand when it comes to negotiating a settlement and could cause them to have to pay out more.

 

There is however a way to get insurance policy limits from an insurance company. North Carolina General Statute 58-3-33 allows you to request this information from an insurance company if you have been injured or incurred property damage at the fault of one of their clients. In order to receive this information, you have to send a request to the insurance company via certified mail.

 

You must:

  1. Provide medical record releases and allow the insurance company to obtain three years of prior medical records and any medical records pertaining to your injury.
  2. Consent to the mediation of the claim.
  3. Submit a copy of the accident report and a description of the accident that’s detailed enough to allow the adjuster to make a liability decision.

 

These three points must be outlined in your letter when you request the insurance coverage limits. The adjuster will have 30 days to respond with the insurance policy limits after receiving your letter.

 

Obtaining the insurance limits of the negligent driver in your case can make a huge difference in your settlement. Be sure to seek guidance from an experienced attorney if you have any questions.

If you’re on workers’ compensation benefits, it’s really important that you continue looking for a job while out of work. It may be really annoying, and feel entirely pointless, but the truth is if you’re not actively looking for a job, you could lose your benefits.

 

There are three major ways you can prove disability:

 

  1. Your doctor has said you are unfit for any kind of work (and you have this in writing).
  2. You have returned to work at a lower salary (which means you will be earning temporary partial disability).
  3. You are unsuccessful in your job search due to your inability to work.

 

In North Carolina, unless otherwise specified by the Industrial Commission or your doctor, the responsibility to prove that you are unemployable falls with you, the injured party. Therefore, you need to be applying for jobs, even if you know you are physically unable to do them. Showing that you are making the effort will prove that your inability to find work is not because you aren’t trying, and instead because you are not unemployable.

 

When dealing with a workers’ compensation case, there are a lot of things like looking for a job that seem trivial when they are actually very important. The best thing you can do when dealing with a workman’s comp claim is to find an experienced attorney who can help guide you through the process. Don’t get tripped up by invisible red-tape or legality that you didn’t know about.

 

If you’re not searching for a job while receiving workers’ comp, you could lose your benefits. Make sure that you’re on the right path while navigating a workman’s comp case. If you have any questions, contact an experienced attorney at Oxner + Permar for a free consultation.

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, hardly anyone can say it was a smooth transition. From issues with the website to uncertainties about how it would affect medical prices, there were a lot of headaches surrounding the whole ordeal. With the uncertainty came the worries about how the insurance reforms would affect workers’ compensation. However it seems that overall these reforms have had a positive impact on the world of workman’s compensation.

 

For one, now that more people are covered by their personal health insurance, they’re less likely to try to claim workers’ compensation for minor injuries. This means that there’s less drain on workers’ compensation insurance, and premiums can be kept at a lower cost. This is particularly true in higher risk industries such as construction, where employees traditionally have a high rate of no insurance coverage.  

 

The Affordable Care Act also seeks to try to reduce medicare reimbursement rates. Medicare reimbursement rates are directly linked to the cost of workers’ compensation premiums. Therefore, keeping those rates low will also reduce the cost of workers’ compensation.  

 

Despite having been around for six years, the ACA is still relatively new. It continues to be fine-tuned and the kinks are still being straightened out. As such, it’s hard to determine exactly what the long-term effects of the ACA will be on workers’ compensation. But there’s definitely a lot of room for these insurance reforms to do a lot of good.  

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