DID YOU KNOW…

IF YOU ARE DISCONTINUING BENEFITS IN  A MAINE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CASE DUE TO THE EXPIRATION OF THE 520 WEEK CAP YOU MUST:

File a 21 day discontinuance and provide the employee the following information at least 21 days in advance of the date benefits are due to expire :

If you are experiencing extreme financial hardship due to inability to return to gainful employment, you may be eligible for an extension of your weekly benefits. To request such an extension, you must file a Petition for Extension of Benefits within 30 calendar days of the date that benefits expire, or, in cases where the expiration date is contested, within 30 calendar days of a final decree as to the expiration date.

Failure to send this required notice will automatically extend the employee’s entitlement to lost time benefits for the period that the notice was not sent. Maine WCB Rules Ch. 2 §2.

Whether this notice must be provided when a 21 day discontinuance is not available because you are paying per Order or Decree of the Board is not clear-so we say, WHEN IN DOUBT, WRITE IT OUT!!!

Contact the attorneys at Tucker Law Group for more information on this and other topics in Maine Workers’ Compensation law.