New Hampshire Workers Compensation Laws
Todd D. Beauregard, P.C. is a workers compensation lawyer in Nashua New Hampshire. If injured at work or on the job, Attorney Beauregard can help you understand the process of filing a workers compensation claim in Nashua NH.
New Hampshire requires all employers – with a few exceptions – to have workers’ compensation. It covers employee’s medical insurance, wage loss and other reasonable expenses related to the injury. If you are injured, it is important that you know your rights and responsibilities. If you are facing a legal matter in New Hampshire relating to workers compensation law and are not sure what to do, attorney Todd D. Beauregard Nashua NH can help guide you through the legal process.
No Fault System, Eligibility and Exceptions
For you to be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits in New Hampshire, you must be an employee of the organization. You must have sustained injuries or developed an illness at your place of work or in the course of doing work related duties. The New Hampshire laws operate on the no-fault principle that is you should be compensated whether the injuries are your fault or not.
However, there are exceptions to these rules. For example, some employees may not be eligible to receive workers’ compensation; this may include firemen and agricultural workers. Additionally, even though the no-fault system is in place, you may not receive benefits if it can be proved that you were intoxicated or that you injured yourself intentionally. If injured at work, it would be in your best interest to seek the counsel of a worker’s comp lawyer in NH.
New Hampshire Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Workers’ Compensation laws in New Hampshire require all employers to have insurance coverage. It is this insurance that pays for the medical expenses and wages lost due to the injury.
Some of the benefits include:
Temporary partial disability: if an employee returns to work after being incapacitated, they may not be in a position to earn as much as they were before the injury. Your earnings before the injury and your earnings after the injury will be compared by the adjuster and you should receive 60% of the difference as the temporary partial disability benefit.
Weekly Indemnity Benefits: Employee weekly wages are calculated as the total of the earnings they have accumulated over the last 26 to 52 weeks and the total divided by the number of weeks. Employees can request to see a breakdown of their earnings in the last 52 weeks. The calculations can range between 26 and 52 weeks and whichever is most beneficial to the employee is what will be used for the average weekly earnings.
Permanent Impairment Award: According to New Hampshire workers’ compensation laws, this award is granted when the employee loses function on any compensable body part. Compensable body parts are defined in New Hampshire Workers’ compensation laws. The benefit is calculated as the percentage loss of function multiplied by the number of weeks the individual has been incapacitated.
Temporary Alternative Duty: Organizations with more than five employees are required by law to prepare temporary alternative duties for injured employees. This is done by reviewing the tasks the employee was doing and comparing with what is in the doctor’s report. The employer may also seek approval from the doctor to determine if the employee can perform these tasks effectively without injuring themselves further.
Vocational Rehabilitation
An employer is required to provide assistance so that an employee can return as close as possible to his earning potential prior to the injury. You may be assigned temporary alternative duty as a rehabilitation counselor is assigned to you so that you can recover your full potential.
Attorney Todd Beauregard is an experienced workers compensation lawyer in Nashua New Hampshire and offers Free Consultations. (978) 275-1919.
We’d love to give your case the individualized attention it deserves.
Reviewer: Janine
“Highly recommend!”