• Workers' compensation provides medical care and wage reimbursement to an employee for a work-related injury.ANKLE FRACTURE image by Dr Cano from Fotolia.com
  
  For an injured employee to receive workers' compensation benefits, objective medical evidence must substantiate that the workplace was more than 50 percent responsible for the injury. Mitigating factors include pre-existing conditions, intoxication, failure to use available safety equipment or an attempt to commit suicide or bodily injury. Once compensability has been established by an authorized doctor, benefits must begin in a timely manner, according to Florida law.
  
  

Job Protection

• Filing for workers' compensation benefits is not a fireable offense by law. If you must be out of work for an extended time, however, your employer is not obligated to hold your job for you. Workers who are unable to return to the previous job may contact the Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, for help in locating alternate employment or retraining.
  
  

Medical Expenses

• If you are injured at work, it is important to notify your employer right away, as your notification begins the benefits process. Upon notification, you will be directed to an approved doctor who will determine the extent of your work-related injury. The employer's insurance carrier will pay for all medical care, including outpatient and inpatient care, physical therapy, lab tests, pharmaceuticals, prostheses and transportation to and from the medical facility. A $10 copayment will be enacted once the authorized physician determines that you have achieved maximum medical improvement (MMI), in other words, you are not likely to improve further.
  
  

Salary Compensation

• Wage replacement benefits equal two-thirds of the average wage earned by the employee, in most cases. Wage compensation begins on the eighth day you are out of work. If you are unable to work for more than 21 days, that first seven days will also be covered. The first paycheck will arrive 21 days after the claim process is begun, with each additional paycheck issued at two-week intervals.
  
  The levels of benefit are as follows: for temporary total benefit, wage replacement received while you are off work and before you reach MMI; temporary partial benefit, wage replacement received after you are released to return to work, but MMI has not been reached (up to 104 weeks); permanent impairment benefit, ongoing benefit paid as a result of a permanent loss of function; permanent total benefit, ongoing benefit resulting from permanent and total disability.
  
  

Death Benefit

• Workers' compensation pays a maximum of $150,000 for an accidental workplace death. Even a death caused by surgery necessitated by a workplace accident has been deemed to be a workers' compensation issue.