Permanent Disability

Permanent Partial Disability

(otherwise known as a "PPD")
There is no need to perform a “good faith, diligent” search for work, or obtain work even if this means accepting a lower-paying job, the worker may no longer be entitled to draw weekly Workers’ Compensation benefit checks under New York law. Medical benefits will still be available if the Permanently Partially Disabled worker fails to look for work, but wage replacement benefits may not be available if the insurance carrier raises issues, such as attachment to the labor market or "voluntary removal" from the labor market. For more on this difficult subject, please see our Work-Search page.

Permanent Total Disability

Some Permanent Disabilities are Total. This means the worker retains absolutely no capacity to continue working (not even on a part-time or “limited duty” basis). Because the worker with a Permanent Total Disability arising solely as a result of a work-related injury or occupational disease retains no physical capacity to perform useful work, such a Totally Disabled individual is relieved of his/her legal duty to perform the otherwise mandatory Work-Search. Thus, both medical benefits and wage replacement benefits will continue for life for the Permanently Totally Disabled worker, and any Totally Disabled worker need not look for work in order to continue drawing all benefits to which he/she has been previously found entitled.

Total Industrial Disability

Download this document if you are seeking Total Industrial Disability with your doctor. Unfortunately, many unrepresented claimants do not get good legal advice, and as a result, do not sufficiently understand the legal standards pertaining to Permanent Disability status. Very often a worker may suffer a severe disability related primarily to pain, and often that pain strikes whenever the injured person attempts to do anything significant or perform any more-than-minimal exertion. Often, such terribly-disabled workers cannot conceive of working while under this condition, and yet the law may only find a Permanent Partial Disability in that worker’s claim. At once the worker is legally required to look for work (or potentially suffer the loss of benefits), and yet the worker cannot possibly conceive of performing in the competitive labor marketplace.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our staff at (585) 232-3240 or Contact@Criscuololaw.com.