Social Security Disability Benefits

Answer:

Clients often ask if, in addition to Workers’ Compensation benefits, they are entitled to other benefits as an injured employee. First of all, it’s important to understand that you typically can only receive one type of benefit at a time, if a claim has been filed under Workers’ Comp. If you have a claim under California Workers’ Compensation and they are paying you benefits, for the most part, that’s going to be your benefit related to that injury. If during your injury you realize that you’re not going to be able to go back to work and that you want to seek additional benefits for when your Workers’ Compensation claim is over, you are sometimes able to file a claim for Social Security Disability benefits both through the Federal government as well as here within California. Sometimes, in addition to Worker’s Compensation benefits, you also might be entitled to short-term disability payments, as well as long-term disability payments. There’s a lot of options and a lot of issues as to what benefits you’re entitled to and when you’re entitled to them. It’s not the easiest area of the law for people to navigate on their own. If you have any questions as to what impact your Workers’ Compensation claim has on other benefits outside of California Workers’ Compensation law, please feel free to give me a call. I’d be happy to answer those questions for you.