Neck, Back & Spine Injuries at Work: How Nebraska Pays “Whole Body” Workers’ Comp Claims
A serious neck, back, or spinal injury can change more than your ability to perform your current job. It may limit the kinds of work you can do for years afterward.
Nebraska workers’ compensation law recognizes this distinction. Unlike injuries to certain scheduled body parts, permanent neck and back injuries are generally evaluated as whole-body injuries, with benefits based on their effect on earning capacity.
Understanding how that calculation works can help injured employees recognize whether their workers’ compensation benefits reflect their actual limitations.
What’s a Whole-Body Injury in Nebraska?
Nebraska workers’ compensation law distinguishes between scheduled injuries and injuries to the body as a whole.
Scheduled injuries involve body parts specifically listed in Nebraska Revised Statute § 48-121, such as hands, arms, feet, and legs. Permanent benefits for these injuries generally depend on the loss of use of the affected body part.
Neck, back, and spinal injuries are generally classified as whole-body injuries.
Instead of relying solely on a medical impairment rating, Nebraska evaluates how the permanent injury affects the employee’s ability to earn a living.
Medical Impairment vs. Loss of Earning Capacity
These two concepts are related, but they are not interchangeable.
A medical impairment rating describes the degree of permanent physical impairment. A physician might assign a percentage after evaluating a spinal injury.
Loss of earning capacity considers how that impairment affects the worker’s ability to compete for employment and earn wages.
For example, a warehouse employee with permanent lifting restrictions may be unable to return to physically demanding work. Even a relatively modest medical impairment could significantly reduce that person’s employment opportunities.
Nebraska courts have consistently distinguished medical impairment from loss of earning power in whole-body disability cases.
How Are Permanent Partial Disability Benefits Calculated?
Under Nebraska Revised Statute § 48-121(2), permanent partial disability benefits for whole-body injuries are generally based on two-thirds of the difference between the worker’s pre-injury wages and post-injury earning power, subject to the applicable maximum weekly benefit.
These benefits are generally limited to 300 weeks. Weeks of total disability compensation can reduce the available 300-week period when total disability is followed by partial disability.
The calculation depends on the worker’s established loss of earning capacity, applicable wage figures, and statutory limitations.
It’s important to remember that earning capacity isn’t necessarily the same as the wages a worker happens to be earning immediately after an injury.
What’s a Loss of Earning Power Evaluation?
A vocational rehabilitation counselor may evaluate how permanent restrictions affect a worker’s employment opportunities.
The assessment can consider:
- Medical restrictions and functional limitations
- Education, training, and work experience
- Transferable job skills
- Available employment opportunities
- Potential wages in suitable occupations
Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court procedures provide for loss of earning power evaluations by approved vocational rehabilitation counselors.
These evaluations can be especially important when the insurer disputes how much a spinal injury limits future employment.
What If You Can’t Return to Your Previous Job?
Being unable to return to the same job doesn’t automatically establish permanent total disability.
The question is whether the injury prevents the employee from working altogether or instead reduces the employee’s earning capacity.
Some injured workers may qualify for vocational rehabilitation intended to help them return to suitable employment.
If a worker is permanently unable to return to the workforce because of a compensable injury, permanent total disability benefits may be available.
The distinction between partial and total disability can substantially affect the duration and amount of compensation.
What About Medical Treatment and Temporary Benefits?
Permanent disability payments are only one part of a Nebraska workers’ compensation claim.
An eligible worker may also receive reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the work injury.
Temporary disability benefits may apply while the employee is recovering and unable to work or is earning less because of the injury.
Once the worker reaches maximum medical improvement, the focus may shift toward determining permanent impairment, work restrictions, and loss of earning capacity.
Shasteen, Morris & Ockander can help Nebraska workers evaluate medical and vocational evidence, address disputed disability ratings, and pursue workers’ compensation benefits that reflect the consequences of a work-related spinal injury.
