What is the Difference between Disability Benefits and Workers Compensation?

When an employee gets injured enough and is rendered unable to do the jobs he is assigned, he may be entitled to different types of financial support. These include:

  • Workers’ compensation
  • Disability benefits
  • Social Security Disability Insurance

Employees are entitled to different kinds of benefits depending upon their circumstances. The key difference between workers’ compensation and other disability benefits are given below:

Workers’ Compensation vs. Disability Benefits

An individual is eligible for workers’ compensation benefits when he or she gets injured at work. It is a requirement according to most states’ legislature that employers carry workers’ compensation in order to cover their injured employees. On the other hand, state disability benefits provide the individual with weekly reimbursements when he/she is not well enough to work at his/her usual or customary job. The main difference between the two benefits is that workers compensation insurances an employee for injuries for which the employer is responsible.On the other hand, disability benefits are not provided through the employer, but these benefits still reconcile for any lost wages.

An individual may be eligible to receive disability benefits while he or she is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. This happens in cases when the state disability benefits are higher than the workers’ compensation benefits.

In cases where the employer or the insurance company do not agree with the fact that the employee should be provided workers’ compensation, the state may entitle him or her to state disability benefits till the time the dispute is brought to a conclusion. The state may ask for the return of the money when the employee is finally provided workers’ compensation.

Workers’ compensation temporary benefits are paid to an individual till the time their condition turns out to be permanent and inactive. In such cases, the injured individual may get to receive permanent disability benefits and medical care for a life-time. On the other hand, state disability benefits can be paid for a maximum of 52 weeks.

Sometimes, an injured employee is provided with both SSDI and workers’ compensation benefits. In order to be eligible for both simultaneously, certain conditions need to be fulfilled. If someone is expected to remain disabled for a period of at least a year, or is suffering from a deadly illness and has paid significant funds that make him eligible for social security disability system, the person may be entitled to both workers’ compensation (or state disability benefits) and SSDI at the same time. However, SSDI may get reduced by the workers’ compensation receipt or state disability benefits.

People are normally not entitled to unemployment benefits and temporary disability benefits (received through workers’ compensation) simultaneously. In cases where doctors find out that the individual is unable to continue work and the employer is unable to find a suitable job in their company that the injured individual can perform, the individual can be entitled to unemployment benefit. Theseunemployment benefits can only be paid for a maximum of six months.