Just like the laws in other states, Nebraska workers compensation laws have also been enacted with an objective to ensure monetary benefits to those employees who suffer from injuries or illnesses while performing their job regardless of whether the accident takes place at the workplace or any third place. The laws require all employers to carry occupational injury insurance policies in order to ensure timely payments to injured workers as and when needed.
Legal Rights Of The Employees
When an occupational injury occurs, the injured worker must report it to his or her supervisor immediately. The delay in reporting will only result in delay in receiving the monetary compensation. Nebraska workers compensation laws also require the employees to let the treating doctor know that it is a work-related injury or disease. The physician will then mention the same in the medical reports, which can be presented as a proof when needed. In some cases, where the employer does not accept the claim and disputes occur, the inured worker can seek help from the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court. The court will review the case and will first try to settle it outside the courtroom through mutual negotiation under the supervision of a court-appointed Mediation Coordinator. If the dispute still does not get resolved, the court may announce a date for hearing.
Medical Benefits
As per Nebraska workers compensation laws, employers are responsible for the payment of all medical expenses resulting from occupational injuries. It is up to the employer to decide whether he or she is going to choose the doctor for the treatment or the injured worker is free to choose a doctor of his or her own choice. But, in cases, where the employer is not satisfied with the medical reports or bills when the treatment I done by a doctor chosen by the employee, the employer have an option to ask the employee to go for another medical examination by a physician chosen by the employer. If there are still disputes, the Mediation Coordinator may try to resolve the same through negotiations. But, if the dispute still cannot be resolved, a court hearing may be necessary.
Vocational Rehabilitation Benefits
There are also provisions for vocational rehabilitation benefits under the Nebraska workers compensation laws. These benefits are awarded to the injured worker in a situation where he or she is unable to perform his or her previous job because of the disability caused by occupational injuries. The vocational rehabilitation benefits will allow the injured worker to get training for the kind of job that he or she is now capable to perform. The employer must pay for all the expenses related to the training, its development, and its implementation.
Death Benefits
As per Nebraska workers compensation laws, death benefits are provided to the widow or widower of the deceased worker who dies because of occupational injuries or illnesses. But, it is important for you to keep in mind that the widow or the widower will continue to receive these benefits only as long as they do not get remarried. Once they get remained, they will get two years of payments in one lump sum and that will be it. The amount of death benefits is determined as 66 2/3 percent of the average monthly wages that the worker had been earning before the date of the accident. In cases, where the deceased has also left children in his or her family, the amount of the benefits can be much higher and can go up to 75% of the average monthly wages.
Impairment Benefits
Here are also specific legal provisions for impairment benefits under the Nebraska workers compensation laws. In order to determine the amount of these payments, first the percentage of the actual disability is calculated, which is then multiplied with the 2/3rd of the average weekly wages that the worker had been earning prior to the date of the accident. However, these benefits are provided only for a period of up to three hundred weeks.
There is also a waiting period of seven days before an injured worker qualifies for wage loss benefits. If the injury gets recovered within less than seven days, no wage loss benefits will be awarded. But, as per the Nebraska workers compensation laws, if the injury or the disability caused by the same continues for over six weeks, the employee must be paid wage loss benefits right from the first day of the accident.