Work injuries run on different rails than other injury claims. Workers' compensation pays your medical costs and part of your wages no matter whose fault the injury was. In exchange you generally cannot sue your employer, and comp never pays for pain and suffering.
Three things. Medical treatment for the injury. Temporary disability checks, typically about two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to a state maximum. And a permanent disability award if you don't fully recover, calculated from your impairment rating and your state's schedule of benefits. Every state's schedule and maximum is different, which is why 'workers comp settlement chart' searches are always state-specific. Our state comp pages carry each state's verified numbers.
If anyone other than your employer contributed to your injury, you may have a regular injury lawsuit against them alongside the comp claim. A negligent driver. A defective machine's manufacturer. A subcontractor on your site. Third-party claims pay full damages including pain and suffering, which comp never does. This is the single most commonly missed source of recovery in work injury cases.
Once you reach maximum medical improvement, a doctor assigns an impairment rating. That percentage multiplies straight through the award formula, which makes it the most contested number in the system. Insurer-selected doctors rate conservatively. Nearly every state gives you a path to challenge the rating with an independent medical examination, and a three-point difference on a scheduled member routinely changes the award by thousands.
Comp settlements trade your future benefits for a lump sum. Before you accept one, know four things: your impairment rating, your state's formula, whether the settlement closes your future medical rights, and whether a Medicare set-aside is required if you are on or near Medicare. A comp attorney's fee is capped by statute in most states, usually 10–25%. That makes advice comparatively cheap in exactly the system where the formulas are hardest to read.
The core formula in most states: your weekly comp rate (about two-thirds of your average wage, capped at a state maximum) × the scheduled weeks for your body part × your impairment rating. A 10% arm rating at a $600 comp rate against a 312-week schedule is $600 × 31.2 = $18,720. Our comp calculator runs it with your state's numbers where we've verified them.
Generally no. Comp is the exclusive remedy against employers, with narrow exceptions for intentional harm or an employer carrying no comp insurance at all. Anyone else who contributed is fair game in a third-party claim: equipment makers, drivers, other contractors. That claim pays the pain and suffering comp doesn't.
Not before three checks: does the number match your state's formula for your rating and wage (run it), does the settlement close future medical care (a fair-looking number can be terrible if it does), and does Medicare need a set-aside? Comp offers are opening positions like any other.