Despite you and your employer’s best efforts to maintain a safe workplace, accidents do happen. Unfortunately, if you sustain a serious enough injury at work, this may render you permanently disabled. While many people this could never happen to them, between 6% and 15% of people report that their disability is a result of a work injury.
While North Carolina does have workers’ compensation laws to cover a workplace injury, they do not last forever. Keep reading for more information on permanent disability and workers’ compensation laws.
Workers’ compensation laws for North Carolina
Generally speaking, most employers must carry workers’ compensation insurance if they have employees. Workers’ compensation provides for medical treatment, work replacement services and lost wages. According to the North Carolina Industrial Commission’s website, payment for lost wages rates are 66 2/3% of your normal wages, however, and must not exceed $978 per week.
You can receive benefits under workers’ compensation laws until a doctor permits you to return to work. If you are unable to return to the same type of work you did before, this is when vocational rehabilitation becomes an option, so you can train for a new career.
Permanent disability eligibility and options
In situations where your doctor declares you permanently disabled, you may be able to recover a monetary award for this situation. To qualify for it, your doctor must determine that you lost the ability to obtain a job fairly in the open market of uninjured workers. In conjunction, you may qualify for government programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income.
