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Workers' Compensation for Police Officers

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Workers Compensation For Police Officers In Maryland

As a police officer, you are exposed to dangerous situations and physical demands, unlike any other job. Law enforcement work comes with a serious risk of injury that can result in physical, psychological, and financial harm. Maryland’s workers’ compensation laws provide protections and benefits to law enforcement officers injured in the line of duty. At Hyatt & Goldbloom, we have decades of workers’ compensation experience fighting for the rights of injured law enforcement officers in Maryland. If you are a Maryland law enforcement officer and have been injured on the job, call Hyatt & Goldbloom today to discuss your rights with a Maryland workers compensation lawyer for police officers to receive the benefits owed to you.

What Benefits Does Workers’ Compensation Provide For Police Officers?

In Maryland, law enforcement officers are entitled to lost wage benefits, medical treatment/expenses, and compensation for permanent disability. In addition, if a law enforcement officer dies in the line of duty, workers’ compensation provides funeral and lost wage benefits to the officer’s family. Here are the main types of workers comp benefits provided to law enforcement officers in Maryland:

Temporary Total Disability (Lost Wages)

When a law enforcement officer is unable to work after an injury, workers’ compensation provides benefits known as “Temporary Total Disability” (TTD). Temporary Total Disability helps cover a law enforcement officer’s lost wages for their time missed due to an injury.

Benefits for TTD are capped at two-thirds of the law enforcement officer’s Average Weekly Wage (AWW). In addition, TTD payments cannot exceed 100% of Maryland’s State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW). The Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission determines the SAWW at the beginning of every calendar year. For 2021, the SAWW is $1,050. Workers’ compensation benefits, including TTD payments, are exempt from taxes.

Medical Expenses

After a work-related injury, Maryland workers’ compensation laws cover all reasonable medical treatment and expenses that result from the injury. This includes emergency room visits, follow-up treatment, rehabilitation such as physical therapy, and any necessary surgeries, among other types of medical treatment and expenses.

The workers’ compensation insurance carrier must approve certain types of medical expenses following a police officer’s injury, such as surgery before it will pay for the treatment. Before approving medical treatment, the insurance carrier will usually require that you see one of their doctors for an “independent medical examination.” However, there is nothing “independent” about these types of medical examinations. Workers’ compensation insurance carriers use a handful of doctors paid by the insurance company that routinely downplay the severity of an injured officer’s medical condition. As experienced workers’ compensation lawyers for police officers, Hyatt & Goldbloom will ensure that you see a doctor who cares about your best interests, not the insurance company’s wallet. We will ensure that you receive any and all treatment necessary to heal your injuries and repair the harm caused by your work-related injury.

Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) Benefits

At the conclusion of a workers’ compensation case, a police officer may be entitled to permanent partial disability (PPD). Permanent Partial Disability applies after a Maryland law enforcement officer has received medical treatment and reached Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). Maximum medical improvement means your treating doctor(s) has determined that additional treatment will not improve your medical condition. The value of a permanent partial disability is calculated by a specific workers’ compensation formula, which the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission determines each year.

How Is My Workers’ Compensation Settlement Determined?

After an injured law enforcement officer reaches maximum medical improvement, two physicians must determine the extent of the injured officer’s permanent partial disability. The two physicians include the injured workers’ physician and the insurance company’s physician. The extent of the permanent disability is quantified through the physicians’ “rating,” usually expressed by a percentage. For example, a physician may determine that an injured police officer’s permanency rating for a shoulder injury is 20%. The 20% rating means that if the injured worker had 100% use of their shoulder before the injury, they now only have 80% use of their shoulder. In other words, the police officer’s injury caused them to lose 20% use of their shoulder.

The law enforcement officer’s physician and the insurer’s physician often calculate very different ratings for the same injury. An injured officer’s final rating, which determines the amount of their PPD compensation, tends to fall in the middle. Your workers’ comp attorney will negotiate a compromised percentage with the insurance company, or alternatively, a workers’ compensation commissioner will decide the rating at a formal issue hearing to reach the final rating.

There are two options when you receive compensation for permanent partial disability. An injured law enforcement officer may settle or stipulate their PPD claim. When a PPD claim settles, the injured officer receives a one-time payment for their disability and cannot reopen their claim. Because an injured officer cannot reopen their claim after a settlement, the insurance company will usually agree to a higher disability rating. In comparison, a stipulation will leave the injured officer’s claim open for five years after the final workers’ comp payment. While this often results in a lower permanency award, the injured worker can seek additional medical treatment or other benefits if their injury worsens in the future.

The decision to settle or stipulate your workers’ comp claim will depend on various factors, including the type and nature of your injury. Your workers’ compensation lawyer for law enforcement officers will explain the benefits and drawbacks of both options to help you decide if you should settle or stipulate your claim.

Special Workers Compensation Provisions For Maryland Law Enforcement Officers

Maryland workers’ compensation for police officers law provides additional benefits to law enforcement officers because of the heightened safety risk present in law enforcement work. The additional benefits provided to police officers in Maryland recognize the importance of law enforcement work and the sacrifice law enforcement officers make to protect our community. There are two main categories of additional workers’ comp benefits Maryland law provides to police officers:

Second Tier Rates for Permanent Injuries
Presumptions of Occupational Injuries

Heightened Compensation For Permanent Partial Disability

When a Maryland police officer suffers a permanent work-related injury, the amount of compensation they receive is usually higher than what an average Maryland worker would receive for the same injury. This is because permanent injury awards for Maryland police officers are automatically calculated at a second-tier rate.

As stated above, Maryland workers’ compensation law determines the value of a permanent partial disability claim by using a predetermined formula. The formula involves the police officer’s permanency rating, the number of weeks that apply to the particular injured body part, and the employee’s/state average weekly wage. Maryland workers’ compensation law has a permanent partial impairment table that assigns a certain number of weeks to a specific body part. The number of compensable weeks for each body part is as follows:

Thumb – 100 weeks
Fingers – 25-40 weeks
Big Toe – 40 weeks
Other Toes – 10 weeks
Hand – 250 weeks
Arm – 300 weeks
Foot – 250 weeks
Leg – 300 weeks
Eye – 250 weeks
Hearing – 125 weeks/ear
Other Cases – 500 weeks

When determining the value of an injured police officer’s permanent partial injury, the Maryland workers’ compensation commission will look at the applicable compensable weeks and the officer’s permanency rating. For example, if a police officer injures their left foot, which has a max compensation of 250 weeks, and their permanency rating for the injury is 10%, then the compensable weeks that will apply to their award are 25 weeks.

After determining the number of compensation weeks that will apply to the injured officer’s permanency award, you multiply the number of weeks by the applicable portions of the officer’s average weekly wage. The portion of the officer’s average weekly wage cannot exceed the capped portion of the state average weekly wage. The portion of the employee’s or state average weekly wage that applies depends on the number of compensable weeks, as follows:

First Tier – less than 75 weeks – 1/3 average weekly wage, not to exceed 16.7% of the State Average Weekly Wage or $176/week
Second Tier – 75 to 249 weeks – 2/3 average weekly wage, not to exceed 1/3 the State Average Weekly Wage or $350/week
Third Tier – 250 or more weeks – 2/3 average weekly wage, not to exceed 75% of the State Average Weekly Wage or $788/week

The above figures are the tiers for 2021. If the injury occurred before 2021, then the determined rates for the year the injury occurred will apply.

Permanent partial injuries of Maryland law enforcement officers are automatically determined based on second-tier compensation. This means that a police officer that suffers an injury with less than 75 compensable weeks will receive nearly double the award of an average worker.

Calculating the award for a permanent partial disability is complicated and can be confusing for someone not familiar with Maryland workers’ compensation laws. The experienced Maryland workers’ compensation lawyers for police officers at Hyatt & Goldbloom can answer all your workers’ comp questions today.

Presumption Of Occupational Diseases

The presumption of occupational diseases applies to specific medical conditions that Maryland law enforcement officers face a higher risk of contracting. Section 9-503 of the MD Lab. & Emp. Code (2019) states the types of injuries entitled to presumptions for injured law enforcement officers in Maryland.

The occupational disease presumptions for Maryland police officers apply to hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease. When the presumption of an occupational disease applies to a Maryland workers’ compensation claim, it is assumed that work-related conditions caused the police officer’s injury. The employer or the workers’ compensation insurance carrier must prove that the disease/condition resulted from a non-work-related cause to overcome this presumption. In effect, the presumption shifts the burden to the employer or insurance carrier, making it easier for the injured law enforcement officer to receive benefits and prevail on the workers’ compensation claim.

Why You Should Call An Experienced Maryland Workers Compensation Lawyer For Police Officers Today

Maryland law enforcement officers work in high-stress conditions that possess a heightened risk of injury. Police and other law enforcement officers make daily sacrifices to serve and ensure the safety of our communities. All injured law enforcement officers deserve a loyal advocate that will represent the best interests in their workers’ compensation claim.

If you are a law enforcement officer that has suffered a work-related injury or occupational disease, the Maryland workers’ compensation lawyers for police officers at Hyatt & Goldbloom can help you get the benefits you deserve. We are available 24/7 at (410) 385-3180.