Can My Side Hustle Ruin My Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Pennsylvania?

Side jobs can bring in much-needed additional income and help provide the foundation for a career change, making them quite important to workers in all types of fields in Pennsylvania. But a side hustle can cause problems if you need workers’ compensation benefits due to an injury in your primary job. It is essential to understand the rules and how to remain within limits that will enable your benefits to continue under the requirements of Pennsylvania law.

If you are in the process of filing a claim and want help ensuring that you comply with requirements, or you had your benefits denied or discontinued and believe the insurance company is acting improperly, it is a good idea to consult an experienced workers’ comp attorney for advice and assistance.

You Have a Limited Right to Work While Receiving Workers’ Comp Benefits

Workers in Pennsylvania have the right to work while receiving workers’ compensation benefits, but this right comes with strict limitations. If you are receiving income benefits to make up for wages that you are not able to earn due to an inability to do your job, then there’s an assumption that your abilities are currently limited. If you continue to work at a side job that requires extensive abilities, you could make your claim look fraudulent, particularly if you are receiving full disability benefits.

It is important to ensure that the work you perform in your side hustle does not violate the restrictions doctors have placed on you. If your doctor advised you not to bend down, reach up, or carry weight, it is reasonable to assume that you should not work in a job such as HVAC installation, where such actions would be required regularly. If your side hustle involves designing websites, a job that requires you to sit in a stationary position, then continuing that work should not interfere with workers’ compensation benefits from your HVAC job.

However, if you continue to do side work fabricating or inspecting ductwork—which requires physical movement—that could cause your claim of disability into question. For instance, it could be argued that your disabilities are not the result of an accident or stresses at your primary job but stem from your side work. Or they might claim that you would have healed from the initial injury if you had not continued your side job, which is outside the scope of workers’ compensation coverage. This would provide grounds for discontinuing benefits.

You May Be Watched

Even if you believe your employer “doesn’t care” what you do while you’re out, it is important to remember that your employer is not the one paying your workers’ compensation benefits. Those benefits are being paid by an insurance company, and insurance companies are known for doing everything they can to keep their costs down. When they stop paying benefits to a workers’ comp recipient, they get to keep that money.

Therefore, workers’ comp insurers often monitor workers who file claims or who are currently receiving benefits to see whether they are truly as injured as they claim to be. Insurance companies have been known to hire private investigators to follow workers’ comp claimants around during the course of the day. But it can be easier for them to try to monitor you online.

They might try to friend you on social media or simply conduct searches of what others have posted. If they find posts that discuss your involvement in activities that seem to be more strenuous than you should be capable of performing based on your claim, they could use that as “evidence” that your claims are fraudulent. They might make assumptions based on incomplete records. For instance, they might see your name among the participants in a 5K and claim you were healthy enough to run when what really happened is that your best friend pushed you along in a wheelchair. Or they might find a photo of you riding a horse or roller coaster and not realize that the photo is ten years old.

It may be very easy for investigators to find evidence of your side hustle online. Much of that information may also be outdated. But even if they find old information, if it calls attention to current actions and those are inconsistent with your workers’ comp claim, you could be at risk of losing your workers’ comp benefits.

Report Any Work You Do to the Insurance Company

Whether you are continuing a side hustle that you’ve been doing for a while or you’re considering starting something new, it is important to report what you’re doing to the insurance company that is providing workers’ compensation benefits. If they don’t need the information, it will not harm your claim. If the policy requires you to inform the insurer and you fail to do so, you risk having your benefits terminated and could potentially face other negative consequences.

Advice and Advocacy from an Experienced Attorney Can Enable You to Keep Your Workers’ Comp Benefits

The workers’ comp scheme in Pennsylvania makes it difficult for workers to succeed in getting and keeping the benefits they should be entitled to receive for on-the-job injuries. Unfortunately, injured workers often need to take legal action to succeed with their claims. To work so hard to obtain benefits and then have them taken away due to complaints about a side hustle can seem like a double curse.

Allow the team at Vanasse Law to assist. We focus on helping workers in Pennsylvania recover full and fair benefits for on-the-job injuries. We know the tactics insurance companies use to deny claims and discontinue benefits, and we work to overcome the challenges so workers receive the benefits they need. For a free consultation to learn how we may be able to assist in your case, call us at 717-397-1010 or contact us online today.