North Carolina Workers' Compensation for Shoulder Injuries
Key Takeaways
- You may qualify for multiple benefits — including medical care, wage replacement (⅔ of lost wages), vocational retraining, and death benefits for eligible families.
- Repetitive stress injuries are covered if supported by strong medical records, a detailed job description, and clear proof the condition is work-related.
- There is no “average” settlement — compensation depends on treatment needs, time out of work, permanent impairment, and your ability to return to employment.
- Common shoulder claims include rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, frozen shoulder, dislocations, tendonitis, bursitis, impingement, and fractures.
- Your actions can directly impact your claim — report the injury within 30 days, follow all medical advice, attend appointments, and be cautious on social media.
- The team at Kornbluth Ginsberg Law Group, P.A., can guide you through the claims process and help you pursue the full benefits available under North Carolina law.
If you have suffered a shoulder injury on the job in North Carolina, you could be entitled to benefits that pay for your necessary medical care and offset a portion of your lost wages.
Work-related shoulder injury claims can be complicated, but you do not have to pursue yours alone. Instead, you can get help from a skilled North Carolina workers’ compensation lawyer at Kornbluth Ginsberg Law Group, P.A.
Call 24/7 at 919-980-9895 or contact us online for a free consultation with a workers’ compensation attorney at our law firm. Let us handle your workers’ compensation claim while you focus on getting better.
You can also visit us at 3400 Croasdaile Drive, Suite 300. Durham, NC. We offer several parking options to make your visit stress-free, including on-site parking, free street parking, and a free parking lot. The office also has a wheelchair-accessible parking lot for your convenience. We can help you!
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How North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Treats Shoulder Injuries
If you sustained a shoulder injury at work, you are likely entitled to shoulder injury workers’ comp benefits, regardless of whether the injury was sudden or the result of repetitive stress.
The North Carolina workers’ compensation system provides the following benefits:
- Medical benefits that pay to treat your shoulder injury
- Wage-replacement benefits that cover two-thirds of your lost wages, up to a state-established maximum
- Vocational retraining benefits if you need to change jobs because of your injury
- Death benefits
If your injury happened because of repetitive stress, you will need a job description from your employer and medical records documenting your symptoms and complaints. Tell your doctor everything about your injury, including that you believe it was work-related. Your doctor can review your job description and determine how your activities caused the injury. It will be easier to prove your case if you have complete records that include this information.
What Is the Average Payout for a Shoulder Injury?
There is no “average” workers’ comp payout for shoulder injuries. Every settlement or award is based on the particular details of each unique workers’ compensation claim.
You could receive a modest amount of workers’ compensation benefits or money if your shoulder injury requires no time off work, very little medical treatment, and heals completely. On the other hand, if you suffer an injury that keeps you off work for a lengthy period, requires multiple surgeries, and results in permanent impairment or chronic symptoms, your payout will likely be significant.
Other factors that can influence the benefits you receive include whether you can return to your regular job or must change work because of injury-related impairment or permanent work restrictions. If your injury prevents you from returning to any gainful employment at all, you could be entitled to benefits for life.
Depending on the facts of your case, you could receive a lump sum payment for a shoulder injury, or you could be paid weekly workers’ compensation benefits for a specified period. Our experienced workers’ compensation lawyers can advise you on the options available in your situation.
Common Shoulder Injury Diagnoses That Show Up in NC Workers’ Compensation Claims
Shoulder injuries that happen at work tend to result in a group of common diagnoses.
Many injured workers’ cases center on these types of injuries:
- Rotator cuff injuries – Tears in the group of shoulder muscles and tendons that stabilize your shoulder
- Dislocated shoulders – When the arm pops out of its socket
- Frozen shoulders – Thickening and tightening of tissues around the shoulder joint, also called adhesive capsulitis
- SLAP (superior labrum anterior and posterior) tears – Rips in the cartilage surrounding the shoulder socket
- Shoulder impingement – Swelling in the tendons after the rotator cuff grinds against the shoulder bone
- Bursitis – Inflammation in the fluid sacs that cushion the bones and joints of the shoulder
- Tendonitis – Inflammation in tendons due to overuse
- Fractures – Breaks in the clavicle, scapula, or humerus
What Can I Do to Get a Fair Workers’ Compensation Settlement for a Shoulder Injury?
The best way to get a fair workers’ comp settlement is to hire a skilled North Carolina workers’ comp lawyer from Kornbluth Ginsberg. You can also take immediate steps that could help your claim.
Report your injury right away. Your employer is entitled to a written report of your injury within 30 days. If you fail to make a report on time, no compensation may be paid.
Get medical treatment immediately, and follow your doctor’s instructions. Attend all follow-up appointments, take all required medications, and abide by any work restrictions you are given.
Eventually, you will reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), the point at which your doctor believes additional treatment will not meaningfully improve your condition. Once you do, your doctor will assign you an impairment rating that reflects how much of your shoulder’s use you have lost.
MMI is expressed as a percentage, with a higher number meaning less function and, consequently, more compensation. As a completely impaired arm is worth 240 weeks of benefits per state law, an impairment rating of 50 percent would qualify you for 120 weeks of benefits, for example.
Remain cautious while you are healing from your injury. Stay off social media. The workers’ compensation insurer or their lawyers can read through your posts and those of your friends and family, looking for anything they can use to deny or reduce your benefits.
The workers’ compensation insurer might direct you to undergo an independent medical examination (IME). An IME is an evaluation conducted by a physician other than your treating doctor to get a second opinion about your course of treatment and current condition. An insurer might ask for one if it thinks you have healed from your injury and can return to work, or that your impairment rating is too high and will cost it more money than it wants to pay.
Documents and Facts That Strengthen Settlement Negotiations
Having thorough documentation is one of the best ways to strengthen your claim. When you report your injury, make sure you tell your employer the same thing you told your initial treating doctor. If your doctor sends you to other healthcare providers, make sure you tell them how you were injured.
Testimony from others who witnessed the injury can also be helpful, as can your supervisor’s testimony about your job duties. Details about how often you perform each of your tasks, whether you are working overhead, or how much you are lifting, can all help prove that your injury was work-related.
If you have further questions about North Carolina workers’ compensation, our FAQs provide clear answers to some of the most common concerns injured workers face.
How Our NC Workers’ Comp Attorneys Help People with Shoulder Injuries
Have you suffered a shoulder injury on the job? Get medical treatment right away, and then call an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer with Kornbluth Ginsberg.
Contact us today or call anytime at 919-980-989 for a free consultation, and let us be the helping hand you need when you need it most.
