Charlotte Attorneys ∙ Brown, Moore & Associates, PLLC
With many years of legal experience, our attorneys know that the workers' compensation process can be tremendously difficult and complicated for individuals who have never been through the process before. One of the most common problems we see is the use of many complicated terms. Most clients facing workers' compensation for the first time feel like they are learning an entirely new language.
That is why we wanted to provide our clients with workers' compensation definitions for some of the most common terms:
- Average weekly wage: Generally, an employee's average weekly wage is based on the amount earned during the weeks that the employee actually worked over the 52 weeks before the injury. If this method of calculating the average weekly wage does not accurately reflect the employee's wage-earning capacity, there are other methods which may be used by a skilled attorney.
- Compensation rate: The amount that an employee will receive as a weekly disability benefit through the workers' compensation system. It amounts to two-thirds of the worker's average weekly wage. This is also an important number for determining the payment to which a worker is entitled for his or her impairment rating.
- Authorized treating physician: This is the physician to whom the injured party is sent by the workers' compensation insurer. It can also be the physician selected by the employee if the Industrial Commission approves such a selection.
- Impairment rating: This is an assessment, provided by the authorized treating physician, which represents the loss of function to the worker's injured body part. An injured worker can be entitled to a second opinion on this impairment rating at the insurer's expense.
- Maximum medical improvement: This is the point in time where the authorized treating physician feels that the injured worker has either made a complete recovery or plateaued in medical care such that ongoing maintenance care is all that will be further required. This point does not mean that medical care will no longer be required, but rather simply means that the particular authorized treating physician no longer has services within his or her specialty to offer the injured worker.
- Clincher: A workers' compensation clincher is a global settlement of a workers' compensation claim. The workers' compensation insurer agrees to pay the injured worker a lump sum in exchange for the worker releasing the insurer from further obligations to make payments for medical care or disability benefits.
- Industrial Commission: The Industrial Commission (the IC) is the state agency with the task of overseeing all workers' compensation claims in North Carolina.
At Brown, Moore & Associates, PLLC, we work with a wide variety of clients who have been injured on the job. Our lawyers have the experience and skill to help you through the complicated workers' compensation process and make sure you get the compensation you need after suffering serious workplace injuries. Call 704-315-2556 or 866-959-2586 toll free, or contact us online for a free initial consultation.
