If you’re injured on the job, you need to do two things without delay:
— Report the accident and injury to your employer.
— Receive immediate medical attention.
When you do both these things, you improve your ability to receive workers’ compensation benefits in the near future. If you find yourself thinking about workers’ compensation, here are the four basic benefits you’re entitled to receive:
— Medical treatment. This means that the insurance company will pay for all bills associated with the treatment required to alleviate the impact of the injury.
— Disability payments. If you’re unable to work while recovering from the injury, you’ll receive disability payments to compensate for lost wages.
— Permanent disability settlement. This comes into play if the accident caused an injury that is permanent.
— Vocational rehabilitation. If you’re unable to return to your former job, you can receive paid training associated with a new employment opportunity.
These are the types of benefits to keep in mind as you file for workers’ compensation benefits and ponder what the future will bring. While nobody wants to be injured on the job, it’s good to know that you can receive benefits if you find yourself in this position.
Of course, just because you file for benefits doesn’t mean you’ll receive them without delay. Instead, there are times when employers fight against this, claiming that the injury didn’t occur at work, for example.
If your initial claim is denied, review the denial letter and then create a plan for filing an appeal with the appropriate party. An experienced workers’ compensation lawyer can provide guidance on appealing a denial.
Source: FindLaw, “Workers’ Compensation: Questions and Answers,” accessed Dec. 28, 2016