RECEIVING CONCURRENT BENEFITS
Posted on February 5th, 2010
Although an injured employee may receive other benefits, sometimes called collateral benefits, while receiving Workers’ Compensation benefits, the rules regarding what you can receive without an “offset” can be very complicated.
If you are injured at work and receiving workers’ compensation benefits, you have an obligation to inform the workers’ compensation carrier of the receipt of certain benefits, including unemployment compensation, severance, Social Security Retirement Benefits, and pension benefits.
An injured worker receiving workers’ compensation benefits may also apply for and receive Social Security Disability (“SSD”) benefits. If SSD benefits are awarded, the workers’ compensation benefits will not be reduced, but the entitlement to SSD benefits may be offset by the workers’ compensation benefits received. As a general rule, the combined benefits between Social Security and workers’ compensation cannot exceed 80% of the disabled worker’s preinjury monthly income, which is referred to by Social Security as your ACE or ‘average current earnings”.
Social Security Retirement (SSR), or “old age” benefits can also be received while you are receiving workers’ compensation benefits, although depending on a number of factors, your workers’ compensation benefits may be reduced as a result of the joint benefits. If the disability occurred after June 24, 1996, and the entitlement to SSR benefits occurred after the entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits, the workers’ compensation carrier will be entitled to a 50% offset for SSR benefits. If the entitlement to SSR benefits existed before the date of the work injury, the workers’ compensation carrier is not entitled to an offset and the injured worker can receive both the full amount of their SSR and workers’ compensation benefits simultaneously.
You may be entitled to receive both workers’ compensation benefits and pension benefits, but the workers’ compensation carrier will be entitled to receive a credit for pension benefits received, to the extent the pension plan was funded by the employer. If, for example, the employer funded 25% of the pension benefits available to the injured worker, it will be entitled to an offset of 25% of the amount received by the injured worker under the pension plan.
You can receive unemployment benefits while waiting to be awarded workers’ compensation benefits, but the employer will be entitled to a credit for any unemployment compensation you received covering the same period of workers’ compensation entitlement.
The above is a general description of your rights with respect to the receipt of different types of benefits and should not be relied on without speaking with an attorney. If you have questions about these issues, or any other issues relating to workers’ compensation or Social Security benefits, please call the lawyers at Oxenburg and Franzel at 215.563.8400.
