Unfortunately, accidents happen, and as a result, the injured employees may be disabled from work, partially or completely. When we receive an Employer’s Report of Injury and identify it as a potential lost time claim, our Claims Representative, Heather Overson, will meet with the injured employee and explain the benefits that the employee is entitled to under the worker’s compensation statute, including the indemnity benefits available. In order to calculate a compensation rate, our claims team needs to know the average weekly wage of the employee prior to the injury. The New Hampshire Department of Labor requires a wage schedule form to be filled out for 52 weeks of gross wages prior to injury. The employer should include bonuses and commissions in the wage schedule. We will send the wage schedule to our claims contact or payroll department, or you can find it on our website by scanning the QR code. https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4829685/ NHADA.com/docs/52_WageSchedule.pdf The average weekly wage is calculated by taking the average of at least 26 weeks but no more than 52 weeks, whichever is more favorable to the injured employee. If the injured employee is disabled from concurrent employment that is covered by a workers’ policy in New Hampshire, they may be entitled to additional disability benefits. NHADA WCT has a way to recover those funds from the state of New Hampshire in September of the following year. WAITING PERIOD The first three days of disability are not paid unless the period of disability continues for 14 days or longer (RSA 281-A:22). However, if the injured employee returns to work within five days of the date of injury in a light duty capacity, then the three-day waiting period is waived (RSA 281-A:23-b). Workers’ compensation disability benefits are based on a seven-day week, so weekends are counted in the calculation of the waiting period. If an employee is injured on a Thursday, seeks treatment and is taken out of work until Monday, when he/she is released to return to full duty, the three-day waiting period applies, and no disability benefits are due. Under the same scenario, if the physician releases the injured employee to return to work in a light-duty capacity on Monday, three days of disability are due. WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INDEMNITY BENEFITS BY DEB HANDRAHAN WCT SUPERVISOR, NHADA 22
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