Workers Compensation Lawyers

Getting injured on the job or becoming ill as a result of your work is not something that anyone looks forward to. Aside from the physical pain that an injury or illness can cause, it can cost you monetarily as you miss work and find yourself paying for medical bills and treatment. That is why each state has something called Workers’ Compensation, a benefit system that employers pay for so that, should one of their employees be injured on the job or become ill as a result of the workplace, their employee is covered.

Typically workers’ compensation covers medical bills, rehabilitation or physical therapy, retraining, and even some of your wages should you be unable to return to work.

I was injured while working or am ill as a result of my job, how do I ask for workers’ compensation?

Here are a few steps that you can take if you are looking to collect workers’ compensation:

1. Report the injury or illness to your employer. You’ll want to do this as soon as possible after the injury or illness occurs in order to insure that you do not miss any deadlines that your state may have set for declaring personal injuries. You can do this on an employer-provided form, but if one is not provided to you, you should be sure to have record of the date, time, and person to whom you reported your injury.
2. Keep record of the names, addresses, and other pertinent information of any and all witnesses to their accident or to the conditions of your workplace.
3. Get your injury or illness checked out by your doctor. You do not have to wait to receive medical attention just because you’re waiting for workers’ compensation. Be sure to be accurate and specific with your medical professional, so that they understand the accident that caused the injury or the workplace conditions that you think could be the cause of your illness.
4. Make a copy of your doctor’s advice, restrictions, and treatment. Keep that copy for your own records and give the original document to your employers for their records.
5. If you are missing work, be sure to keep track of all of the time that you missed. Be sure that this time is accurate.
6. If you do not receive workers’ compensation benefits within a reasonable time period, you may want to contact a workers’ compensation lawyer to address the delays.

Typically, an employee does not have to prove that their employer was responsible for the injury in order to begin collecting workers’ compensation. Accidents happen in the workplace regardless of who was at fault. In fact, one of the benefits of workers’ compensation is that there is no blame-game involved.

There are however some instances in which an employee may not be eligible to collect workers’ compensation for their injuries. Those include injuries sustained while the employee was intoxicated or using drugs at the time of the injury, injuries that were self-inflicted, injuries that were sustained while the employee was initiating a fight, or injuries that were suffered while the employee was not at work. There are always exceptions to these circumstances.

If you or someone you know is having trouble with their workers’ compensation claim, it could be beneficial to speak with an experience attorney who could assist you. Call a workers comp attorney New York trusts today to discuss the specifics of your case and find out what benefits you could be entitled to.

 

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Thank you to our friends and contributors at Polsky, Shouldice & Rosen, P.C. for their insight into workers compensation claims and how to ask for your compensation.