Monthly Archives: May 2013

Temporary Employees Cannot Be Excluded From Workers’ Compensation

Today’s post comes from guest author Paul J. McAndrew, Jr. from Paul McAndrew Law Firm.

According to a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court, a temporary employee cannot be excluded from an employers’ workers’ compensation policy.

In 2005, Rafael Casados was killed on his third day at work at a grain storage facility owned by Port Elevator-Brownsville L.L.C. Because Casados was a temporary employee of Port Elevator at the time of his death, he was initially awarded a liability ruling of $2.7 million directly from Port Elevator. However, according to the latest Supreme Court ruling, Casados’s family should receive remedy under Port Elevator’s workers’ compensation policy instead. Port Elevator’s insurance provider is liable for Casados’s death benefits, despite the fact that Port Elevator never paid workers’ compensation insurance for any of their temporary employees.

According to the decision: “If Port Elevator’s policy had set out certain premiums solely for temporary workers and Port Elevator had not paid those premiums, Casados would still have been covered under the policy and the failure to pay premiums would be an issue between Port Elevator (their insurance provider).”

 

 

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Can My Social Security Disability Benefits Be Taken to Pay Old Debts?

I am often asked by clients if their disability benefits can be taken to pay old debts. Filing for Social Security disability benefits is a lengthy process, and many people accrue significant debt during the application process. These people are worried that their benefits will be taken from them in order to satisfy these debts.  However, most people have nothing to fear, as Social Security disability benefits can only be garnished in certain circumstances.

If you owe money to the federal government (for example, unpaid taxes or past-due student loans from the Department of Education) the government has the power to take your Social Security disability benefits in order to satisfy the debt. Your benefits can also be garnished if you are in arrears in child support or alimony, or if you have been ordered by a court to pay restitution.

Generally, these are the only circumstances in which your Social Security disability benefits can be taken to pay old debts. If you have other debts, such as private loans or credit card debt, your Social Security disability benefits cannot be garnished as long as the benefits are not “intermingled” with other assets.  Therefore, you should keep your Social Security disability benefits in a separate bank account. If your disability benefits are combined with other money you may have, the benefits are subject to garnishment. Once you are awarded disability benefits, you should consider setting up a separate bank account just for your benefits to make sure that those benefits cannot be garnished.

However, some creditors and even banks aren’t aware of the fact that Social Security disability benefits cannot be garnished. If your disability benefits (which have not been intermingled with other assets) are garnished, inform the creditor and the bank immediately that the garnishment violates Section 207 of the Social Security Act. Section 207 protects your benefits even after they have been paid to you as long as the money can be identified as being Social Security benefits – that’s why you cannot intermingle the benefits with other money you may have.

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