When a Vermont worker is injured, his or her thoughts likely turn to how they will support themselves and their family. Vermont Workers’ Compensation laws provide the following benefits to assist them during this difficult time.
- Medical Benefits: Medical treatment that is reasonable and related to an injured employee’s workers’ compensation injury must be paid by the workers’ compensation insurance carrier.
- Temporary Disability Benefits: These benefits can be thought of as “wage replacement” and are available to Vermont workers who are totally or partially disabled from work due to his or her workers’ compensation injury. The amount of weekly benefits is determined by the injured worker’s average weekly wage at the time of the workers’ compensation injury.
- Permanent Disability Benefits: Worker’s compensation injuries often cause an injured employee to be left with a permanent impairment. Vermont workers’ compensation laws provide for payment of permanent partial disability benefits based upon the percentage of the permanent impairment. In some instances, an injured employee is unable to return to gainful employment due to his or her permanent impairment. In those cases, Vermont workers’ compensation laws provide for payment of permanent total disability benefits. Permanent disability benefits are not intended as wage replacement. Rather, they are intended to compensate an injured employee for the loss of function to his or her body due to a workers’ compensation injury.
- Vocational Rehabilitation Benefits: Vermont workers’ compensation laws provide vocational rehabilitation services to an injured worker, if he or she is unable to return to suitable employment due to a workers’ compensation injury.
- Death Benefits: In the unfortunate event that a worker dies as a result of his or her workers’ compensation injury, Vermont law provides for the payment of death benefits to the deceased worker’s dependents.