MenuUnemployment benefits provide some money to help pay bills when a person loses their job. Workers’ compensation, on the other hand, replaces wages when unable to work due to a work-related injury. Whether or not a person can collect both unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation depends on a number of factors, but it is a practice that can occur in Minnesota unlike some other states. However, that doesn’t mean your southern Minnesota workers’ comp attorney will tell you that you should.
If you find yourself in this situation, it is best to talk to your attorney as soon as possible so that you can avoid being charged with unemployment fraud. This is a complex area of the law in which you will need guidance so that you don’t make a mistake that could cost you when you should be collecting benefits after being injured on the job.
Guidance You Can Trust
There are a number of issues that you need to be aware of. First of all, workers’ compensation cases can take a while. This is because insurance companies may turn down claims for small reasons, which results in the need for an appeal. Nonetheless, any money that you receive from workers’ comp can have an impact on the unemployment check.
Under Minnesota’s unemployment law, it is presumed that you can work. If you are unable to work because of an on-the-job injury, then you are considered ineligible for unemployment benefits. If you draw unemployment benefits anyway, that is when you can be charged with unemployment fraud.
But if you are able to work with restrictions, you can also be eligible for unemployment. However, this can create an issue because it can hurt your transition back to work from the workers’ comp side of things.
Another matter is that a person who is eligible for unemployment is presumed to have been discharged from their job for reasons other than quitting for a good reason or employee misconduct. When comparing these presumptions to workers’ comp rules, which are meant to compensate you while you recover from a work injury, there is a contradiction.
This makes collecting both sets of benefits very complicated.
Knowledgeable Representation
Because of these complexities, it is very important that your Minnesota workers’ comp attorney has the knowledge needed to guide you. In a nutshell, the law says that a worker who collects wage loss benefits that are higher than the weekly unemployment benefit can’t collect unemployment. However, unemployment may be able to be collected if the opposite is true.
Regardless of which benefit you seek or if you seek a combination of both, you will need legal guidance and you will need medical evidence to support all claims. Fortunately, you don’t have to go through any of it alone.
Contact A Southern Minnesota Workers’ Comp Attorney
Claiming both workers’ comp and unemployment can present issues, especially with the workers’ comp case. Your attorney can explain to you how the two can conflict with one another so that you can make the right decisions in your case. To learn more about how Harvey & Carpenter can help you, call 507-779-7529 to request a free consultation.