What if You Can Never Go Back to Work After a Job Injury?

November 19, 2025

If you have been injured at work, it can leave you with serious concerns regarding your future. If your work-related injury, however, leaves you permanently unable to work, the matter is even more serious. One of the most important steps you can take if this is the difficult position you find yourself in is consulting with an experienced Cherry Hill workers’ compensation attorney at Matarazzo and Lubcher early in the process.

Permanent Total Disability Coverage

If the injury you suffered on the job leaves you with no reasonable expectation of marked improvement in terms of your ability to work, you may qualify as having a permanent total disability. As such, you can expect ongoing benefits that are designed to address the severity of your condition.

Presumed Permanent Total Disability

Workers’ compensation presumes that the claimant qualifies as having a permanent total disability if they have lost or have lost use of two of the following major body parts:

Hands
Feet
Legs
Arms
Eyes

This categorization applies even if the employee retains the ability to work gainfully.

Other Instances of Permanent Total Disability

Except when a permanent total disability is presumed, the injured employee must first reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). This is the point at which the involved medical professionals determine that the employee’s condition will not significantly improve with additional treatment or therapeutic care.

Before reaching MMI, temporary total disability benefits will likely apply. Permanent total disability benefits, however, cannot be awarded until after a finding of MMI.

Permanent Total Disability Benefits

If you’ve suffered a permanent total disability at work, workers’ compensation will cover your medical needs for those services that are identified as reasonable and necessary. In addition, you are entitled to wage compensation at 70 percent of your average earnings over the 26 weeks before being injured on the job, but a state cap applies.

Permanent workers’ compensation payments continue for 450 weeks. They can, however, be extended throughout your lifetime if you can establish that you remain unable to earn a living.

All workers’ compensation claims are challenging, but those involving permanent total disability are more so. A savvy workers’ compensation lawyer is well prepared to tackle each of the following complexities on your behalf effectively:

Reaching an MMI ruling sooner rather than later
Establishing an accurate impairment rating, which must reflect an inability to perform any work
Negotiating a fair settlement or obtaining a court award, which may take the form of weekly benefits or a lump-sum payment

It’s Time to Consult with an Experienced Workers’ Comp Lawyer

The accomplished Cherry Hill workers’ compensation attorneys at Matarazzo and Lubcher appreciate how significant your claim is to your future, and we will leave no stone unturned in our diligent pursuit of its best possible resolution. We are here to help. Contact us online or call 856-460-5805 for more information today.