It is a sad reality that even in the safest workplaces, employees in the Detroit still get hurt and at times get injured very seriously. When this happens, as other posts on this blog have mentioned, an employee may be able to get compensation through Michigan’s workers’ compensation program.
However, these benefits may not pay for everything and they also may not last forever. As such, someone who has been permanently injured in a work-related accident may need additional financial support. Fortunately, Social Security disability benefits are available in this sort of situation, provided of course that a person legally qualifies for them.
It is possible to draw both workers’ compensation benefits and disability benefits through the Social Security Administration at the same time. However, there is an important caveat, and that is that the Social Security benefits may be capped.
To be more specific, the most a person can draw through workers’ compensation and Social Security disability combined is 80 percent of that person’s average gross earnings prior to the injury. The Social Security Administration will reduce the federal disability payments to enforce this cap.
As an example, if an employee was earning $5,000 a month before an injury and is now drawing $3,000 month in workers’ compensation, then the most he or she will get from Social Security is $1,000 a month, even if the employee is otherwise entitled to more.
Still, an injured worker would do well to explore whether he or she can qualify for Social Security disability, even if he or she is already getting workers’ compensation benefits. After all, when recovering from an injury, a victim will need all they help they can get.