While the worker’s compensation laws do vary slightly from one state to the next, most jurisdictions require employees who are sick or have been injured to make their employer aware of the incident within 30 to 45 days of when it happened. Failing to make your employer aware of the incident can disqualify you from receiving benefits. This is why you should never put off reaching out to a workers compensation lawyer and starting up the process to get your benefits.
How Does the Process Work?
Providing notification to your employer requires you to give written notice to someone in a management position. This may be as simple as going to the human resource department and filling out a form. The only exception to this would be if the employee is physically unable to inform the employer. This would only happen if the employee was hospitalized because of the incident. In this situation, employers almost always find out about the incident without needing to be informed by the employee. If you are concerned, you could hire a workers compensation lawyer to contact your employer and make them aware of the situation on your behalf.
After your employer receives notification, they are required to submit a report to the worker’s compensation board. They are also required to notify the carrier of their compensation insurance. Once that happens, the insurance carrier should begin sending you payments. The payments should cover medical expenses as well as a percentage of your weekly income. Most insurance carriers pay roughly 66 percent of the income.
Unfortunately, the process does not always go this smoothly. You may just wind up at the doctor, and when the doctor determines that your injury or illness was work related you will be required to fill out a worker’s compensation form. In this situation, you would want to contact a law firm such as Gilbert Blaszcyk and Milburn LLP. In a scenario like this, your employer and their insurance provider might try to find a reason why they should not pay you. This is because there was never a documented incident. You just had a doctor say that you had to sustain that injury or illness while you were working. You are still entitled to compensation in this situation, it is just difficult to prove. Connect with Facebook
