How does workers’ compensation affect disability benefits?

Any worker who suffers an injury during the course of his or her employment might be entitled to workers’ compensation, which may come from state or federal workers’ compensation agencies, insurance companies or even by the employers themselves. Most employers are required to have workers’ compensation in case a worker suffers from any workplace injuries. In most cases, it is a form of self- insurance. However, in rare cases, the employer might prefer using the services of an insurance company.

While most disability benefits do not adversely affect other disability benefits, workers’ compensation has the potential to affect workers’ rights to disability benefits. The Social Security Administration usually calculates the total amount of disability benefits for which the worker is eligible, which is set at 80 percent of the total salary that the worker was receiving before he or she suffered the workplace injury.

The total disability benefits received are calculated as a cumulative of the disability benefits received by the Social Security Administration, along with workers’ compensation benefits, as well as any other benefits that are being received by the worker. The SSA uses various methods and formulae to calculate the amount of average salary that was being received by the worker prior to the workplace injury.

Continue reading →