4 Requirements to Modify Employee Compensation Benefits

In Kachinski v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Vepco Construction Co.) 516 Pa. 240, 532 A.2d 374 (1987), our Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted the following requirements which an employer must meet to satisfy its burden to modify compensation payments: The employer must produce medical evidence of a change in the employee's condition. The employer must produce evidence of a referral or referrals to a then open job (or jobs), which fits the occupational category which the claimant has been given medical clearance e.g., light work, sedentary work, etc. The claimant must then demonstrate that he has in good faith followed on the job referral(s). If the referral fails to result in a job then the claimant's benefits should continue. Kachinski, 516 Pa. at 252, 532 A.2d at 380.