Disability Benefits for Commonwealth Edison

Chicago Workers’ Compensation Lawyers for Commonwealth Edison Employees

Disability benefits can be important for Commonwealth Edison workers who are unable to work due to serious work injuries. Call the seasoned Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca to represent you in your claim against Commonwealth Edison for disability benefits. We seek the best available outcome and examine the circumstances of our clients’ injuries to determine whether it would be appropriate to seek other relief, such as a personal injury damages award or SSDI benefits, too.

Disability Benefits for Injured Commonwealth Edison Employees

Disability benefits are no-fault benefits that you can receive if you were injured in a work-related accident in or around Chicago and are not able to work as a result. They consist of partial wage replacement. Disability benefits include temporary total disability benefits, temporary partial disability benefits, permanent total disability benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits. These are calculated in slightly different ways.

Temporary Total Disability Benefits

Temporary total disability benefits are ones that an injured employee gets during a period in which she is either temporarily not able to go back to work, as determined by his or her doctor. They can also be obtained if you were released to do light duty work, but your restrictions can’t be accommodated by ComEd. As a ComEd employee who broke your legs in a fall, for instance, you could obtain temporary total disability benefits until you are able to return to work at Commonwealth Edison, or have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), as determined by your treating physician.

Temporary total disability benefits amount to 2/3 of your average weekly wage, subject to minimum and maximum limits. The specific circumstances of your job with ComEd may affect the calculation of the average weekly wage; it is generally based on your pre-tax wages in the 52 weeks before you were injured or exposed. The calculation can be impacted by factors such as whether you were employed by ComEd less than 52 weeks or if you had to work not only for ComEd, but also at a second job.

You should receive temporary total disability benefits within 14 days of giving ComEd notice of your work-related injuries, but you won’t be paid for the first three days you lost on the job, unless you miss 14 or more calendar days because of the work-related injury.

Permanent Total Disability Payments

Permanent total disability payments are made if you can no longer work. You can obtain these benefits if you are found to be permanently and totally disabled because of your work-related injuries. These benefits amount to 2/3 of your average weekly wage and are paid for the rest of your life, but they are subject to statutory maximums and minimums.

Permanent partial disability benefits are made by ComEd and its insurer if you lose use of part of your body. Generally, loss of use refers to losing your capacity to do things you could do prior to injury. For instance, if you are electrocuted and suffer complications of shock such as a heart attack and can no longer work in a high-risk job with ComEd, but could do a desk job that pays less, you may be able to obtain permanent partial disability benefits. There are four ways this benefit may be calculated: wage differential, scheduled injury, non-scheduled injury, or loss to your body as a whole, and disfigurement.

Factors That Determine Disability

Assuming you were injured on or after September 1, 2011, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission bases its determination of your disability on factors such as an impairment report prepared by your doctor, your job as an injured employee, your age at the time of injury, your future earning capacity, and evidence of disability corroborated by the treating medical records. Our attorneys seek to persuade the IWCC based on the specific circumstances of our clients’ cases. No one factor is the sole determinant as to whether you should get disability benefits.

Hire Chicago Lawyers for Commonwealth Edison Employees

Our attorneys represent clients who need disability benefits based on work injuries sustained in Champaign, Rockford, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Sangamon, Winnebago, Kane, Cook, and Adams Counties. We also handle third party lawsuits and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.