How Long Can You Collect Workers’ Compensation in Florida?

If you were injured on the job in Florida, your employer is generally required to provide you with workers’ compensation benefits until you are well enough to return to work, assuming you promptly notify your employer of your injury and apply for benefits. You are entitled to these benefits whether you or your employer was at fault for the accident in most instances.

How long you can collect workers’ comp benefits depends upon the type of benefit you received, how severe your injuries are, how long it will take you to recover from the injuries, or if you will recover at all.

In most cases, if you are injured at work, you will be able to receive benefits for up to 104 weeks. Benefits will end earlier if you have recovered from your injury before that period is over. 

Types of Florida Workers Comp Benefits

When you are hurt on the job, you are entitled to medical benefits, disability benefits, and in the most tragic of cases, death benefits. The benefits and the rules that apply to them can be a lot to understand when you are trying to recover from an injury. 

It’s smart to consult with an experienced Florida workers’ compensation attorney for advice to make sure you get the benefits to which you are entitled. 

An attorney will tell you that you need to let your employer know about the injury within 30 days of its happening in order to receive benefits. If you miss this deadline, you may have given up your rights to any workers’ comp. An attorney may also inform you that under Florida law, workers’ compensation income benefits don’t kick in until you have missed eight days of work.

Medical Benefits

The medical benefits cover the expenses related to your medical care. Everything from hospital visits and doctor’s appointments to prescription medicine, physical therapy, and prosthetic devices is included. Your attorney will remind you that you need to see doctors that are approved by the state workers’ comp insurance board.

These benefits last as long as you need care that correlates to the accident. You will need to get  authorized medical care at least once every 12-month period for the care to be covered by workers’ comp.

Disability Benefits

Depending on the nature and extent of your injuries, you may receive total temporary disability, partial temporary disability, or permanent disability benefits.

Temporary Disability Benefits

The law allows you to receive up to a maximum of 104 weeks of temporary compensation for an injury. You must be unable to work or have limitations that the employer can’t accommodate to receive these benefits. After 104 weeks, if you are still unable to return to work, you could be entitled to receive another type of benefit.

Permanent Partial Disability

What happens after your temporary benefits have expired and you are still unable to work, and you have reached the maximum medical improvement? You are still entitled to what are called permanent partial disability benefits. These payments could continue for a specified time, dependent on the type and severity of the disability.

Permanent Total Disability

What happens if your injury becomes a total disability that will impact the rest of your life? In that case, you can get 66.67% of your average weekly wages for as long as you’re unable to do work of any kind. These types of payments can be received until you turn 75. 

Death Benefits

In instances where an injury is fatal, the worker’s family members are entitled to workers’ compensation death benefits. Those benefits will cover up to $7,500 in funeral expenses, cash benefits for dependents, and education benefits for the surviving spouse. The survivor benefits are capped at  $150,000.

Call a Clearwater Personal Injury Attorney With Your Workers’ Comp Questions

If you’ve been injured on the job in Florida, your main concerns will be recovering and getting back to work as soon as possible. The more serious your injury, the more crucial it becomes to receive the maximum benefits. An experienced workers’ compensation lawyer will be able to advise you on the best path forward. 

Contact the Pinellas County Workers’ Compensation Law Firm Of Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers for Help

For more information, please contact the Clearwater and St. Petersburg workers’ compensation law firm of Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers at the nearest location to schedule a free consultation today.

We serve in Pinellas County and its surrounding areas:

Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers – Clearwater
1875 N Belcher Rd. STE 201,
Clearwater, FL 33765,
United States
(727) 796-8282

Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers – St. Petersburg
2560 1st Ave S,
St. Petersburg, FL 33712,
United States
(727) 349-1728