Adding Insult To Injury: What To Know About Workplace Injuries And Wage Garnishment
If you have suffered from a workplace injury, you may be feeling quite fortunate that you have the perk of workers' compensation insurance from your employer. This valuable benefit allows you get your injury taken care of without owing any medical bills, and you can also stay home and get better while earning a portion of your salary. Unfortunately, this reduced salary can make it difficult to stay on top of your bills, causing you to fall behind. When that happens, creditors can garnish your wages. If you are in the unfortunate situation of having a work-related injury and are facing financial hardships as a result, read on to learn more about wage garnishment.
They can only take a certain amount of your salary.
Under most circumstances, creditors are allowed to dip into your salary, but there are limits on how much they are allowed to garnish. Here is how the system works: if you are unable to pay a bill, the creditor may obtain a court order allowing them to recoup some or all of what is owed to them directly from your salary. Your employer is required to take the garnished amount off the top of your pay before you get it. Every state, however, puts a limit on the amount they can take. For example, if your state allows creditors to garnish up to 10% of your pay, they can take only that amount.
Your workers' comp income and garnishment.
While there are exceptions, in most cases your reduced workers' comp income is not subject to garnishment. One major purpose of an employer providing workers' comp in the first place is to prevent workers from being so damaged (financially) from being out of work that they have no choice but to file a personal injury lawsuit against them. Unfortunately, if you are behind on child support or spousal support, you may find even your workers' comp reduced income subject to wage garnishment, since the courts find that monetary payments to minors, and in some cases to ex-spouses, are to be held in a higher regard and must be paid regardless of workplace injuries.
An injury that fails to heal or will never heal.
Even without a wage garnishment, it may not take long for your financial situation to worsen, and it could be even worse if your injury turns out to be permanent. You may be entitled to a lump-sum compensation amount and increased benefits, so speak to a workers' comp attorney as soon as you begin having financial issues to see if you qualify.
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