| "Benefits" Under the Black Lung Benefits Act |
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| Once eligibility under the Black Lung Benefits Act has been established, a totally disabled miner will receive benefit payments equal to a portion of the monthly pay rate for federal employees. Should the miner succumb to the pneumoconiosis disease, his surviving widow will be entitled to the same monthly benefit payment. If the miner has no surviving widow, his single surviving child will also receive the same monthly benefit amount. The benefit amount increases incrementally with each subsequent surviving child. Finally, if there is no surviving widow and no surviving children, the miner's dependent parents or siblings will receive a monthly benefit amount at the children's rate. The receipt of payments pursuant to workers' compensation or unemployment insurance may reduce these beneficiary amounts. More... |
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| Pre-Employment Injuries |
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| Generally, compensation will be denied for injuries incurred prior to an employee being actually hired. However, courts have tended to reject form over substance and allowed compensation when the employee was hired though he had not finished the full hiring process such as completing the employer's business paperwork like payroll and tax forms. Compensation turns on whether a contract of hire has been entered into between the employer and potential employee -- an express or implied contract will suffice. More... |
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| What is a Social Security "Disability?" |
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| A "disability," as far as the receipt of social security benefits is concerned, is not defined the same as for other programs. Social security disability benefits are only paid for total disability; the complete inability to work is the benchmark. At its essence, a person is disabled under the Social Security Act if he is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that has lasted or is expected to last for twelve months or that results or is expected to result in death. A disability can result from either a physical or mental impairment, or a combination of impairments. More... |
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| Dual-Purpose Travel by Employee |
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| "Dual-purpose" travel by an employee occurs when the employee embarks on a trip on behalf of the employer that coincides with travel for the employee's benefit. In other words, the journey serves both the business purpose of the employer and the personal purpose of the employee. Characterization of the trip as business, personal, or both does not have to be made at the outset of the trip. A trip can start out as purely personal but then transform into a business endeavor. More... |
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| Claiming Compensation |
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| In most jurisdictions, an injured employee must make a claim for workers' compensation within a specified time. By imposing a time limitation on filing a claim, the states have attempted to protect employers from old or stale claims that would be difficult to adequately investigate and defend. An employee's failure to file his claim promptly will result in the claim be denied, even if it is shown that the employer was not actually prejudiced by the delay. As a general rule, it is presumed that the employer is prejudiced by an untimely claim due to the inherent difficulty in defending old claims. More... |
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