Injured at work? What's Next?
Often the worker's compensation does not seem quite fair to the worker. There are injuries that happen through no fault of the employee and the company for which they company will try to keep from paying workers comp disability to the disabled worker. It is situations like this that warrant the need for you to hire a lawyer for your workers compensation needs. But there are a few factors that you must take into consideration. These factors are cost and whether the lawyer will work on a contingency basis.What is Workers Compensation?
Wokers comp was created to protect employees who may have suffered from a work related injury or a job related accident. The process includes the worker filing for workers comp, which is the first step towards getting the money to cover expenses related to the accident, such as :
The cost of medication and bills related to the injury
Wage percentages that are based on pre-injury levels
There may be cases where compensation for pain and suffering is considered
This system was put into place to keep the employee from suing his employer for the accident. The worker should tell his supervisor as soon as he is injured. This will prevent any problems with filing the correct report with the company. It also keep the worker's compensation company from denying the claim because it was not submitted in a timely fashion.
As working members of society, we know that the bills won't stop once we are injured at work, so this system helps us in that manner.
Depending on the state, the employer may have to assign the injured employee a "light duty job" if there is a doctors recommendation that he/she return to work. If the compensation for the new position is not the same, the workers compensation may have to continue to supplement the loss in wages.
There have been situations where the employer couldn't bring the employee who was injured at work back in a light duty position because no position like that existed. In these cases, the injured worker would remain at home until he/she fully recovered.
When Should You File for Worker's Compensation?
As soon as you have seen a doctor and know that you will not be returning to work for a period of time, you should file your worker's compensation claim. The delay of filing can affect the decision of the worker's compensation. This could cause the worker's compensation board to think this claim is not on the up and up.
If there were witnesses around during the accident, this may help make the claim more legitimate. Don't hesitate to make a note of this in your claim.
Ensuring that you follow all processes and procedures will make your claim process a lot easier, so keep these things in mind.
The attorneys at Franks and Koenig have over 30 years of combined experience in the Work Injury & Workers' Compensation field. Our firm works strictly on a contingency basis, which means we don't get paid unless we obtain a recovery for you.