Massachusetts Injury Lawyers Blog
Someone who cannot return to a physically demanding job may still answer calls, prepare estimates, or supervise a small business. Those activities raise two different questions in a Massachusetts workers’ compensation claim: how much the worker can earn, and whether all earnings were accurately reported. A recent Reviewing Board decision sent a case back for answers to both. If you receive weekly benefits while doing any paid work, including self-employment, seek legal guidance about reporting that work and how it may affect your benefits.
Factual History and Procedural Setting
Reportedly, a municipal employee hurt his back while lifting at work. He also operated a seasonal irrigation business and sometimes plowed snow. After the injury, he continued some lighter tasks for his company and hired others for physical installation work. Medical testing showed a disc problem, and he received treatment. He sought total benefits for one period, partial benefits thereafter, and payment of medical expenses.
Allegedly, the self-insurer presented bank and business records, an employee earnings report, and surveillance evidence. The worker acknowledged that he had received snowplowing income that he had not reported. An administrative judge found that he could perform some light work, assigned a $600 weekly earning capacity, awarded partial incapacity and medical benefits, and rejected the insurer’s fraud claim. The insurer appealed both the earning-capacity finding and the rejection of its allegation that the worker had failed to report income properly.
Employee Obligations in Workers’ Compensation Claims
The Reviewing Board concluded that the judge had not adequately analyzed the business evidence. The judge described the worker’s income from the irrigation company as negligible, but made no findings about amounts paid to the business or its net earnings during the relevant period. A business’s gross receipts do not, by themselves, establish a self-employed worker’s earning capacity. Ordinarily, net earnings provide a more useful starting point, although the worker’s skills and other vocational factors can also matter. The board required findings grounded in the records, not an unsupported estimate.
The board also found the fraud allegation analysis incomplete. Massachusetts law requires employees receiving weekly compensation to report earnings, including wages or salary from self-employment, on the approved form when requested. The judge accepted the worker’s explanation about unreported snowplowing money but did not address the earnings report or reconcile it with the irrigation-business evidence. The Reviewing Board did not declare the worker fraudulent. It vacated the relevant findings and sent the case back so the judge could decide the reporting and earning-capacity questions with specific findings. While that review proceeds, an earlier conference order governs weekly benefits.
Meet with a Trusted Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
If you have questions about how additional self-employment may impact your potential workers’ compensation claim, it is advisable to meet with an attorney who can explain your rights. Attorney James K. Meehan is a trusted Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorney who can help inform you of your obligations and what benefits you may be owed. Call 508-822-6600 or contact the Law Office of James K. Meehan online to discuss your claim today.