5 Things To Know About Workers’ Compensation in Pennsylvania

5 Things To Know About Workers’ Compensation in Pennsylvania

The maximum weekly compensation rate for injured workers in Pennsylvania has risen to $1,347 for 2025.

That rate, which applies to workplace injuries occurring on and after January 1, 2025, represents an increase of 1.7 percent from 2024.

Under the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act, hurt workers are entitled to wage-loss benefits equal to two-thirds of their weekly pay. However, there are minimum and maximum limits. The exact amounts are based on the Department of Labor and Industry’s statewide average weekly wage calculation.

Understanding the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act can be challenging, especially with changing average weekly wage amounts, compensation denials, and securing total disability benefits. However, there are key components you should be aware of to ensure a successful workers’ compensation claim.

5 Things You Should Know About Workers’ Compensation PA Rules:

1. What injuries are covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act?

Generally speaking, you are entitled to compensation if you suffer a work-related injury or illness. This includes medical expenses and wage-loss benefits. However, if the disease or injury is self-induced, you cannot get compensation benefits. If the work injuries cause death, the survivors of the deceased may be entitled to death benefits.

2. What if I had an existing medical problem that got worse because of my job?

You still might be eligible for compensation. Benefits are available when a job aggravates a pre-existing condition. For example, if you have had a bad knee for years because of a high school football injury, and your job worsens your knee problems, you might be entitled to benefits. But you must be able to establish a clear link between your previous injury and how your job duties have exacerbated the condition.

3. What is a work-related disease or illness?

Long-term exposure to chemicals, dust, fumes, solvents, and various compounds may cause a severe disease or illness or irritate an existing medical or physical condition. To be covered under Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law, you must establish that the disease occurred within 300 weeks of your employment with the dangerous substance.

However, in the case of certain lung diseases, you must prove you worked in an occupation with silica, coal, or asbestos hazards for at least two years in Pennsylvania during the 10 years before your disability occurred.

4. If I suffer a work injury, do I have to see the company doctor?

For the first 90 days of medical care, the law requires you to select from a list of doctors your employer has chosen. There must be at least six doctors for you to choose from. Your employer cannot decide for you. You can choose your doctor if your employer does not have a list available. And you are free to select another doctor on the list if the first choice was unsatisfactory. Remember that your employer’s insurance company is entitled to monthly medical reports during your treatment.

5. How long do I have to make a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation claim?

You need to know a few PA Workers’ Compensation Act deadlines. First, you must notify your employer of the accident that caused your injury within twenty-one days after it occurs, or at the latest, within 120 days of the injury. In the case of a workers’ compensation denial, you have three years from the injury date to appeal. Once you have notified your employer and made a claim for benefits, there is a seven-day wait before wage loss benefits begin.

Out of Work and Need Money? Injured Workers Need Munley Law.

Contact a qualified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation attorney immediately. The consultation is free and confidential. Usually, if your attorney files a claim on your behalf, you do not have to pay anything until you win your case. Your attorney’s fee will be deducted from the benefits that you recover. To secure the workers’ compensation benefits you are entitled to for a work-related injury, or support against the workers’ compensation appeal board, call Munley Law.