On the job injuries are common. If you have an injury or illness due to your job, you may be entitled to receive money under workers’ compensation laws. The injury may result from a single act, such as an accident, or it may result from being constantly exposed to activities or substances at work. Workers’ compensation laws help make sure that injured workers have enough money to take care of themselves and their families while they are out of work. They also help injured workers get well so they can return to work. Almost all businesses are subject to workers’ compensation laws.
Benefits You May Receive
The heart of the workers’ compensation laws is the benefits they provide to injured workers. The employer, not the worker, pays for these benefits. There are different kinds of benefits. The type and seriousness of the injury or illness determine which benefits, if any, an injured worker can receive.
Here are the main types of workers’ compensation benefits:
- MEDICAL CARE. These pay for medical treatment needed to restore an injured worker to good health. The cost is paid by the employer or its insurance carrier, so there are no “deductibles.”
- TEMPORARY DISABILITY. An injured worker may receive temporary disability benefits if a doctor finds that he or she cannot work because of the injury or illness.
- PERMANENT DISABILITY. If an injury stops an employee from doing any work in the future, these benefits may be received.
- VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION. If the injury stops the worker from ever doing his or her job but not other kinds of work, these benefits help the worker learn a new type of job
- DEATH BENEFITS. These may be available to family members of a worker who dies due to a job.
Call Us For Help
If you are hurt on the job, call us to find out about your right to receive workers’ compensation benefits. There are complex rules about the amount of benefits you may receive and procedures to obtain them. It’s vital you act promptly, so you don’t lose benefits because you waited too long.