Taking Your Pension and Withdrawing from the Work Force May Affect Your Weekly Compensation Benefits

Recent cases from the Pennsylvania Courts have found that injured workers who have retired or taken a pension may be considered to have withdrawn from the work force and thereby subject them to having their weekly compensation benefits suspended.

In a new case, Mason v. Joy Mining Machinery, the Commonwealth Court found that if the injured worker is still in good faith looking for work, an inference can be drawn that the injured worker has not withdrawn from the work force. However, workers have to show more than just searching the internet and newspaper ads for jobs. As I advise all my clients, continuing to look for meaningful work can be both a step towards returning to gainful employment, but also serves as the best defense to the allegations by the insurance company that work exists that an injured worker can perform. Nothing refutes such allegations even if they come from a “so called” vocational expert than tangible proof of legitimate job applications that the injured worker has made as soon as their treating doctors tell them they can return to some type of employment.