Different Types of Workers Comp Your Employer Should Provide

In Iowa, there are a large number of businesses that have a high level of risk involved. From farming, to wind turbine farms, and manufacturing jobs Iowans put their ability to work at risk on a daily basis. If an employee were to get hurt, the employer must provide these three Iowa work compensation benefits.

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Wage Loss Benefits

If an employee is not able to work due to the injuries that they sustained, Iowa Work Comp law should pay them back for the lost wages that they weren’t able to work for. The check should be similar to what an employee’s net pay is while they work. When the employee does get the check, it may be sightly lower than what he or she would have normally gotten. That is because the employee replacement benefit is not subject to taxes. Sometimes an employee’s injury may still allow them to work, but with fewer hours or the employer pays the employee less that what he or she got when they were healthy should be paid back with temporary partial disability benefits.

Medical Benefits

According to worker compensation laws in Iowa, the employer and insurance company are required to give the injured employee proper medical care as a result of being injured at work. The employer has the right to choose the doctor but under certain circumstances, the employee is entitled to petition to see a different doctor. Once a doctor is picked, the employee is most likely going to have to drive to get care. In addition to the employer providing and paying medical care, the employee is entitled to earn a mileage expense. This means the miles that the injured employee uses to get to their appointments are reimbursed by the insurance carrier and employer. The current reimbursement rate for miles is 56 cents per mile.

Permanency Benefits

If an employee’s job-related injury results in a permanent disability, they may be able to earn Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) from the Iowa Work Comp law. These payments are in addition to the healing period benefits (noted above). There are two types of PPD benefits. There is Scheduled Member Disabilities, and Unscheduled (Body As A Whole) Disabilities. Workers Comp laws in Iowa say that an employee’s entitlements to PPD benefts when a Scheduled Member is involved is based on functional impairment.  Unscheduled (Body As A Whole) Disabilities states that “an injury results in a permanent disability to a part of the person that is not a scheduled member, it is referred to as an industrial disability that is compensated according to the percent that the disability reduced the person’s earning capacity”. Ia. Code Sec [85.34(2)]. Below is an image that depicts these two PPD benefits. 

If you or a loved one believes they didn’t get the correct care, or need help answering worker compensation questions in Iowa, contact Carpenter Law Firm. We specialize worker compensation. Carpenter Law Firm can visit with you anywhere in the state of Iowa.