Tag Archives: light duty

Workers comp issues during the holidays

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I spent part of a “nearly summer-like” Sunday putting up Christmas decorations last weekend, so it’s time to talk about some holiday season workers’ compensation topics.

More falls when you fallback? If you are like me, you probably feel a little off the Monday after a time change. But does feeling a little off lead to more work injuries or accidents?. Studies say that while losing an hour of sleep during the spring ahead leads to more injuries, falling back in the fall doesn’t lead to more injuries. Experts believe this is because the fallback means people don’t lose sleep. (Parents of young children and pets may beg to differ about an extra hour of sleep)

But studies also indicate that more car accidents take place at sunset and more take place in the autumn than in the spring. I will often travel to points in central and western Nebraska from Lincoln during afternoon and night hours. I am glad I don’t have any road trips planned this week.

Holiday job injuries – While statistics may not bear out a correlation between the fall time change and work injuries, statistics do show new employees are more vulnerable to work injuries. During the holidays many people take on holiday jobs.  Holiday jobs are increasingly delivery and warehousing jobs that have a higher injury rate than traditional retail jobs. So in short, many workers may be more vulnerable to work injuries over the holiday season. Unfortunately, workers hurt doing a part-time or second job are limited to disability benefits based on those wages rather than on any income loss at their main or full-time job.

Voluntold workers – I saw and heard my first Salvation Army bell ringer today. Last year I wrote about how The Salvation Army partners with insurers and employers to employ injured workers as “volunteer” bell ringers. These assignments are particularly popular with employers that lack light or alternative duty programs.

I would imagine that these programs could become more popular due to business concerns over alleged labor shortages. If you can’t find workers to do jobs, you can always try coercing injured workers with the prospect of losing their workers’ compensation benefits and their job for refusing a volunteer assignment.

I went off on these arrangements last year. In short, their benefits are oversold and they create lots of practical problems for injured employees. They also re-enforce the power imbalance between injured workers and employers.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Sanitizing as light duty work for injured workers?

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Last month in a trial, I heard an HR manager testify about something I’ve only read about on workers’ compensation insurance blogs, sanitizing or wiping down surfaces to prevent COVID-19 as part of a light or alternate duty assignment for injured worker.

While wiping down surfaces surely doesn’t spread COVID, most public health officials in the United States and abroad discount the importance of wiping down surfaces in preventing the spread of COVID. COVID is primarily spread through aerosol droplets from activities like breathing, talking, sneezing, etc.

So why are some employers pushing cleaning and sanitizing as light duty or alternate duty?

One, light duty assignments are always a good way for employers to reduce workers’ compensation costs. This explains the rise of so-called “voluntold light duty” jobs where employers volunteer injured workers for community service jobs. But unlike “voluntold light duty” employers receive financial benefits for placing employees in sanitizing jobs. In order to be eligible for PPP assistance, businesses need to maintain 75 percent of their payroll. Sanitizing jobs help businesses meet that requirement.

I think making workers do meaningless work is just an arbitrary exercise of power by employers. But sanitizing jobs pose unique risk. Cleaning chemicals can be hazardous to touch and inhale. I represented an employee who had to go the ER after using a restroom that was filled with chemical vapors from cleaning agents. Excessive chemicals could worsen air quality for workers who aren’t involved in sanitizing work. Having inexperienced workers using chemical may pose risks to themselves and others.

Supporters of light duty assignments argue that employees are better off working light duty because they maintain the employment relationship. That’s true to the extent that benefits like health insurance depend on earning wages. But reliance on employers for health insurance benefits just reinforces how employers can force employees to return to work after a work injury.

But there are other problems with light-duty jobs like “sanitizing” or retail “greeting”. They are temporary jobs reserved for workers are still recovering from injuries. In practice, this excludes many workers. Employers with light duty work programs tend to be high injury employers. High injury employers tend to be either self-insured or have high deductible insurance. As such, high injury employers want to press employees to reach maximum medical improvement or MMI as soon as possible. Hence the use of nurse case managers, occupational medicine clinics and paid examiners to push injured workers back to work whether they are ready or not.

But as soon as an employee is deemed to reach MMI, they are ineligible for light duty jobs like sanitizer or greeter. This leaves many workers in a kind of purgatory where they are still effectively unable to work  but technically employed without receiving wages or benefits.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Unhappy holidays for voluntold light duty injured workers

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Christmas music started playing last week. Another familiar holiday sound started last week — holiday bell ringing by The Salvation Army. But many bell ringers may be injured workers who are being forced to volunteer at a “light duty” assignment.

Nothing under Nebraska law prohibits companies from assigning their injured workers to work for non-profits. In fact, a small industry has cropped up that matches injured workers with non-profits. Of course, that industry and apologists for workers’ compensation insurance industry call this practice a win-win for everyone. I think the benefits of forced volunteer or voluntold work don’t hold up under closer examination. But workers faced with a voluntold assignment face at least two problems:

Two bosses

Injured workers who are voluntold to do volunteer work are paid by their employers. Since the employers are paying them they have to answer to their employers. Workers are also accountable to onsite supervisors for the non-profit. Two bosses leads to communication problems and that often leads to problems for injured workers — who in practical terms are often already on thin ice with many employers for filing a workers’ compensation claim.

Different hazards

When a worker returns to work in a light duty job, there is a good chance that a supervisor has some idea about the employees work restrictions. That’s less likely when dealing with a new employer.

Some so-called light duty jobs aren’t always light. Some injured workers get temporarily assigned to work at Goodwill Stores. However most retail work requires a 50-pound lifting ability along with extended standing. Bell ringing usually requires long-term standing. And while insurance side thought leaders like to use terms like “resilience”, they have cushy indoor jobs. Trying standing outside on a cold December day in Nebraska for eight hours being forced to volunteer. This is never a pleasant prospect and it’s certainly more risky as the COVID pandemic extends into month eight in the United States.

Win-Win or Win-Lose?

The insurance industry touts the well-being benefits of volunteer to work to injured workers. But on closer look these benefits, nebulous as they are, are mostly backed by anecdotal evidence. But even if you take the benefits of corporate volunteering at face value, a lot of those benefits come through so-called VTO or volunteer time off programs. In those programs, companies have employees take time off for community projects or pay employees to volunteer for organizations they care about.  That’s a whole other situation from telling an injured worker to go out in the cold and raining bells for the Salvation Army 40 hours a week or they will get fired while they still recovering from an injury.

But while then benefits of voluntold jobs are dubious at best to workers, businesses who voluntold their workers get a nice some nice PR.

Why can’t workers just collect TTD and volunteer on their own?

Why can’t workers just volunteer for an organization they like and collect TTD? Many workers are rightly concerned that employers are surveilling them. But even if a worker isn’t under surveillance, employers and their insurance companies fundamentally like to control their employees — including and especially their injured workers. Employers want to control which doctors you see and what kind of care you get from your doctor through the use of nurse case managers.

But even if an employee manages to get proper medical care for a work injury, some employers aren’t content to let their workers stay home for a few months while they get healed. Employment at-will gives employers all sorts of leverage over their employees. Voluntold programs are just one example of how this power dynamic plays out.

Things work differently when a collective bargaining agreement is in place. Unions sometimes negotiate their own return to work programs. But I’ve seen insurance companies and their vendors ignore these agreements and try to force union members into voluntold jobs.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Does the decline of 24-hour retail mean a safer workplace?

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The Lincoln Williamsburg Hy-Vee, just north of our Lincoln office, joined other Hy-Vee stores in ending 24-hour operations

Hy-Vee Stores ended 24-hour operations in most of their stores throughout the Midwest . Did Hy-Vee’s move help workplace safety for their workers?

Maybe.

24-hour retail and workplace violence

Retail workers are increasingly subjected to violence on the job. Violence at stores increases during overnight hours and in stores where alcohol is sold. Some police departments believe 24-hour retail establishments are public safety risks. So by closing at midnight, Hy-Vee may be lowering the risk of injury from violence for their overnight employees.

However Hy-Vee failed to mention worker safety as a reason for ending 24 hour operations. (The reasons sound like a lot of corporate speak for reducing staff.) In my view, Hy-Vee deserves criticism for some workplace safety practices. I noticed Hy-Vee has implemented a light duty program where injured employees literally sit and/or stand and do nothing. In my experience, these programs are borderline abusive and usually force employees to return to work too soon.

Online shopping and the gig economy

Customer convenience drove the expansion of 24-hour retailing. But many shoppers skip the store all together for the convenience of online shopping and delivery.

Online retail has increased warehousing and delivery jobs that have safety risks of their own. Companies looking to save money contract out delivery to gig economy companies like Shipt and Door Dash Shipt and Door Dash classify their workers as contractors. These contractors lack employment protections like workers’ compensation.  California recently enacted Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) to extend employment protections to gig economy workers. California codified the employee-friendly ABC test in AB5. New Jersey and New York are looking at following California’s lead by classifying gig economy workers as employees rather than independent contractors.

Gig economy workers in Nebraska

Nebraska lawmakers have remained silent on whether gig economy workers should be defined as employees or independent contractors. Our state’s workers’ compensation law uses a more employer-friendly “economic reality” test to decide whether a worker is an employee or contractor.

But even using the economic reality test, the Nebraska Supreme Court defined taxi drivers as employees rather than contractors for the purposes of workers compensation. Under that case law, I believe you can argue credibly that most gig economy employees should be deemed employees under the Nebraska Workers Compensation Act.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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I don’t care what you heard on NPR. Walmart isn’t getting rid of greeters.

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A minor uproar ensued a few months ago when outlets like NPR reported Walmart was eliminating the familiar greeter job in 1000 stores.

So it seemed odd when I saw a local competitor of Walmart placing a greeter in a store that I frequent. The person told me they were working a “light duty” job.

Here is why I think more big retailers will be putting in greeters.

I wrote back in 2017 that retailing jobs were becoming heavier and more hazardous because more employees would be involved in delivery work created by online ordering.

But doesn’t the fact that retail jobs are becoming physically more demanding mean that light jobs like greeter will be eliminated?

I don’t believe so. Heavier jobs mean more injuries on the job. More injuries on the job mean employers will be looking to place employees on so-called “light” or alternate duty jobs. More light or alternate duty assignments means injured workers getting placed into light jobs like greeter or other attendant jobs on a temporary basis.

In my experience Walmart accommodates injured employees through something called a Temporary Alternate Duty (TAD) matrix. The TAD matrix is a mix of job light job functions that can be done. The Greeter job is part of that matrix. I doubt that Walmart is going to take Greeter out of their matrix when the alternative would be paying their injured workers temporary total disability.

I learned the term TAD back in 2012 when I deposed a Walmart store manager in central Nebraska. In 2012, there were also press reports that Walmart had eliminated the greeter job. When I asked the Walmart manager about those reports, he was flippant with me In retrospect, he had some grounds to think I asked a stupid question. Walmart didn’t get rid of greeters in 2012 and I doubt they will in 2019. (Walmart has nearly 4,500 stores in the United States. Recent press accounts report Walmart is only eliminating greeters in 1000 stores)

I don’t want to sound dismissive of disabled employees who work as greeters who might have lost their job. But I believe that Walmart shoppers and shoppers of similar stores will continue to see store greeters because that’s how retail employers will accommodate injured employees by placing them into ligther jobs like greeter or attendant jobs.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Workers’ Compensation Basics: Payments to Workers and their Families

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Here’s the next installment in the firm’s series that focuses on the basics of the workers’ compensation system. It gives information on how payments to injured workers and/or their families are handled. 

Workers’ compensation generally pays by the week, although it may be paid bi-weekly or monthly in some circumstances. The amount of the payment is established by state laws or statutes, regulation or court decision. 

Family members are paid in the event of the death of a worker arising from an accident or disease. Family members are occasionally paid for providing home-health care.     

The amounts paid and duration of payment varies from state to state. Generally there is a minimum and a maximum. The maximum is usually two-thirds of the gross wages earned, with a limit that is adjusted from time to time. 

To calculate the amount actually paid, most states use average wages for a specified number of weeks or months before the injury, death or disease. 

Payments are made for temporary inability to work, which is generally labeled temporary total disability. There may be a waiting period before payments begin. The waiting period varies from state to state. 

Payments are also made when a worker is temporarily limited to light duty and working either fewer hours or for a lower rate of pay. These benefits are called temporary partial disability. 

Payments are made for permanent inability to work and, if severe enough, some states pay for the worker’s lifetime. Some states do not pay for less than lifetime. These benefits are called permanent total disability. 

Payments are made for permanent reduction of the ability to work. This benefit is normally labeled permanent partial disability. 

Payments that are made for loss of body parts or limited use of body parts are also labeled permanent partial disability. State law establishes the value of the various body parts. 

Payments are less frequently paid while workers are participating in retraining or vocational rehabilitation. This is not a common benefit. 

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION DOES NOT PAY FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING. 

It is important to contact an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer if you have questions or concerns about any of the information shared here. Please read the previous blog posts in the workers’ compensation basics series by clicking on these links: 

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Is “Light Duty” Really Light Duty?

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One phrase that is thrown around in the world of workers’ compensation is “light duty.” Light duty refers to a job done by an injured worker while they are on work restrictions. However “light duty” isn’t always light duty if the employee physically struggles with doing their light-duty job. To me, light duty can be a misleading description of what injured workers go through when working alternate-duty jobs. Here are three situations where I think the term light duty is misleading.

1. Employee forced to work without restrictions with one limb when the other limb is restricted. This is common in the meatpacking industry with hand, wrist and arm injuries, and I have seen it in construction as well. Employers read work restrictions too literally and force employees to work unrestricted with the uninjured hand or arm. Unfortunately, the result of this is that the other arms or hand can get injured through overcompensation or overuse. This can lead to another and/or a larger workers’ compensation claim, which also leads to more medical expenses, pain, suffering and inconvenience for the injured workers and their families.

2. Doctor-given restrictions do not really reflect true physical restrictions. This can happen for a couple of reasons. One reason is that a doctor might not know the “light duty” job description. To remedy this, the employee needs to be clear about telling the doctor what his or her actual duties are so the doctor can give accurate job restrictions. Having a written job description is extremely helpful. If management makes it difficult for you to get a copy of your job description, this should indicate that you need to contact a lawyer and that the company may be discriminating against you because of your injury. Second, the doctor may be unduly influenced by an employer or insurer. In Nebraska, we have doctor-choice rights as part of our workers’ compensation act. In other states, attorneys have filed RICO suits against unlawful combinations of employers, insurers and doctors who conspired to undercut the value of workers’ compensation claims. If you feel you are being treated unfairly by a doctor, you should contact an experienced attorney to see what your options are.

3. Work restrictions are difficult to measure. Work restrictions are usually measured by lifting and so-called “non-material handling” activities like walking, bending, climbing, etc. This can exclude a whole host of other restrictions, like noise tolerance, heat and cold sensitivity, as well as dust and chemical sensitivity, which can make a job difficult. Some serious restrictions can also defy easy attempts to measure them. Someone suffering the permanent effects of a head injury may get periodic headaches and sickness that force them to leave work on an irregular basis. This kind of restriction is difficult to measure during a medical examination or even in a functional capacity evaluation, but it certainly impacts someone’s ability to hold a job.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Transitional ‘Light’ Duty Jobs: What Are They and Do I Have to Take One?

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When injured at work, your doctor may give you work restrictions that prevent you from returning to your regular job. In these situations, there are three things your employer can do:

  1. Tell you that they have no jobs within your restrictions
  2. Give you a transitional duty (or “light duty”) job within your restrictions
  3. Force you to work your regular job in violation of your restrictions

If it’s #3, call a lawyer immediately and inform your doctor that your employer is not following the doctor’s orders.

If it’s #1, you would be taken off work and you would be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for temporary disability until you are released back to work or until your employer accommodates your work restrictions.

If it’s #2, it not always clear what the result will be. This “transitional duty” option is when your employer returns you to work but not at your normal job. Instead you are given a different, temporary job while you are on restrictions.

Problems arise with these transitional jobs when your hours are cut, your pay is cut, or you are asked to do a job that is unreasonable. Often, if you refuse to work a transitional duty job that is in your restrictions, you could forfeit your right to obtain work comp payments for temporary disability while you are on those restrictions and off work.

If the transitional duty job that is offered to you cuts your hours, you will probably be entitled to temporary disability payments in an amount to make up (somewhat) for the difference in what you were making before the incident that caused the injury and what you are now making in your transitional job.

Similarly, if your hourly rate or your wages for your transitional job are less than what you would have been earning before you were injured, you would again be entitled to temporary disability payments in an attempt to make up for the shortfall.

Where transitional duty jobs have a gray area is whether they are truly reasonable jobs that are being offered. For example, there are horror stories of employees working in the near dark for 8 hours per day or working in appalling conditions sorting paperclips for transitional duty. Whether or not you have to take a job like these horror stories without forfeiting your right to temporary disability payments depends on the facts of each specific case.

Click the link – it’s about a Walmart guy who had to do “light duty” in the bathroom for 7 hours a day: http://www.aol.com/article/2014/05/27/wal-mart-employee-claims-he-was-forced-to-spend-7-hour-shift-in/20893585/?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl28%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D481058

Generally speaking, however, if you are offered a transitional job within your restrictions, you should probably take that job unless you have a very good reason that you cannot. For example, in at least one Nebraska case, the court held that even having an employee relocate 300 miles for a temporary transitional job was considered a reasonable job offer. Even transitional jobs that are during different shifts than your normal shift may be considered reasonable. If a job is reasonable and you do not have a good reason for not accepting such a transitional job, you could be denied temporary benefits and be left without any pay at all while attempting to recover from your work injury.

If you have a job that sounds unreasonable, and you are contemplating whether or not you are required to accept such a job, contact a lawyer. An experienced lawyer will be able to give you a good idea of whether turning down such a job would allow your employer to deny you temporary disability payments or not.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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