What is malingering?

What is “malingering” and how can it affect your workers’ comp case?

Malingering comes up often in the context of workers’ compensation. Malingering is a term used to describe the action of exaggerating or falsifying one’s illness or injury to gain some benefit (such as workers’ comp payments).

Workers’ compensation program administrators and officials of the employing company often accuse employees who receive workers’ comp payments of “malingering” as a way to extend benefits. These accusations, which happen on a fairly regular basis, are unfair to dedicated employees who continue to suffer effects from injuries or illness contracted on the job. Such workers are rightfully owed benefits.

A Medical Definition of Malingering:

WebMD defines malingering as:

“‌. . . pretending to have an illness in order to get a benefit. The feigned illness can be mental or physical. […]

What is the Coming and Going Rule in Workers’ Comp?

Workers’ Comp Coming and Going Rule: How it Affects Your Claim

Workers’ compensation is insurance that provides financial aid to employees to cover the medical expenses and lost wages due to work-related illnesses, diseases, and injuries. The Pennsylvania Workmen’s (Workers’) Compensation Act was enacted in 1915 and is mandatory for most employers across the state. The insurance is meant to benefit both the employee and the employer, protecting the employee in cases of illness and injury on the job, and the employer from being sued for such cases. Compensation is roughly 66% of the employee’s average weekly wage.

There is an exception, however, to workers’ comp. It’s called the Going and Coming Rule. 

What is the Going and Coming Rule?

According to DMV.ORG, the Going and Coming Rule is when an employee gets into an accident and/or is injured commuting either to or from work. […]

Amazon workers’ attempt at unionization

The workers’ comp lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys examine the attempt at unionization made by Amazon workers

From the summer of 2020, Amazon has been in the middle of a spirited unionization effort from some of the workers at its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse. Through the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) the employees staged protests that have been largely online and through the phone because of the pandemic. 

The organizers were hoping these protests would yield the same results that pushed for the unionization of employees in high-profile companies in the U.S. and were hoping for similar results for Amazon’s Alabama warehouse.

As Amazon, Chewy, and other warehouses continue to crop up across the Lehigh Valley and throughout our region, it is worth understanding how unionization efforts unfold for Amazon workers.

The push for unionization: how it all began 

The push for unionization started after a small group of workers at the company’s Bessemer Alabama warehouse went to the local branch of the retail workers’ […]

Does Workers’ Compensation Cover Seasonal Workers?

Does Workers’ Compensation Cover Seasonal Workers?

Businesses supplement their staff in peak seasons like summertime and winter holidays by hiring seasonal employees. As the workforce grows, coverage requirements evolve, including workers’ comp seasonal employees’ demands.

The Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act doesn’t give a clear distinction between full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees. Some employers provide more benefits to full-time staff than other workers.

So, what happens if you are a short-term employee and you sustain a work-related injury or illness? This post explains how the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act protects seasonal workers.

Workers’ Compensation Coverage for Seasonal Employees

Pennsylvania worker’s compensation covers nearly all workers, including part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees. Employers like corporations, nonprofits, unincorporated businesses, and even entities with just one employee must provide workers’ compensation coverage.

However, […]

What is the leading cause of workplace fatalities?

The leading cause of work-related fatalities

Overwhelmingly, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the U.S. Car and truck crashes account for 40% of job-related deaths each year, according to the National Safety Council. Motor vehicle accidents are the #1 or #2 cause of job-related death across all industry groups.

Motor vehicle workplace deaths by industry

All workers can be at risk of a fatal work-related crash, whether or not driving is a major part of their job duties. Of course, some industries are more prone than others. Not surprisingly, workers who drive a vehicle as a primary part of their job including truck drivers, delivery drivers, and first responders face the highest risk. Consider the fact that one in three long-haul truck drivers have experienced a serious crash during their career. Motor vehicle accidents were responsible for half of workplace fatalities in the gas and oil extraction industry and 46% of work-related deaths for EMS first responders. […]