1) If it is a 20% whole body impairment rating, it is fairly high. But in the grand scheme of things ratings mean very little, other than correlating to the # of weeks you will receive IB benefits.
2) WC has no legal obligation to retrain you. So unless the state decides to put you in a retraining program, you are not going to receive retraining unless you make arrangements yourself. All WC is required to do is pay you rehab TTD benefits if you are accepted into a program, and that is for a limited period. They don't find you a program.
3) Probably an FCE exam. Most of the carriers efforts with these kinds of tests, and vocational counseling is to allow the doctor to conclude you can return to work in some capacity. Not to actually provide you retraining. That responsibility was cut out of the statute ages ago. Too expensive.
4) See #3.
5) Reality time. The wc statute is not designed to assist you getting back to work or with retraining. When you reach MMI, the carrier calculates what the owe you based on your 20% rating and begins payments and that's it. As long as the carrier believes you are capable of any work, be it a $5.15 an hour job, their obligation to you, except for medical care, ends. The state program of retraining is a joke now, offering classes in telephone sales. Only workers with permanently and totally disabling injuries are eligible for continued lost wages. So 95% of the people injured, those that had a high paying job and now have to earn less because of their injuries, are not compensated for that loss. You do not recover.
That is the Florida legislature's idea of sharing the burden of work related injuries between labor and employers. They pay to patch you up, and you are on your own from then on. Or to sum up, the Florida legislature has 2 constituants with opposing goals. Workers who want protection, and business who wants very low WC premiums. Now who do you think had more money to spread around in Tallahassee, injured workers or business? Don't you listen to the Tom Gallagher for govenor TV ad? He's the man that took on the trial lawyers and reformed workers' comp!!! Or to sum up, the injured worker got the shaft again.
From WC's perspective as long as you have a good hand, you can find a job that only requires one good hand. There are plently according to any occupational survey. That is the reality of the system.
Tell me your age, whether you finished high school, your occupation, how badly the hand is impaired, and whether it's your dominant hand, and I will tell you whether to call a lawyer.
