If you are hurt at work, you deserve the opportunity to seek fair compensation. You may have the opportunity to apply for workers’ compensation, and that compensation could help you get the medical care coverage you need as well as replacement wages.
When you’re hurt on the job, you may be able to get a few kinds of compensation. The most common types to receive include:
- Medical expense coverage for all necessary treatments related to your injury
- Disability wage benefits if you have a new or worsened disability due to an accident at work
- Rehabilitation support, so you can improve your health
- Vocational rehabilitation, which is training to help you get into a different job if you cannot return to the one you did before
- Death benefits for your family if you pass away
Generally speaking, most people are able to get medical expense coverage, wage benefits and vocational rehabilitation once they qualify for workers’ compensation after an injury. Disability benefits can be added on if an injury is severe enough that the person won’t be able to go back to work or will need to greatly reduce the workload they take on.
What can you do to make sure you get the most compensation from your workers’ compensation claim?
The first thing to remember is that every claim is different. The value of your claim will depend on the specifics of your injury as well as your current earnings and other factors.
To start your claim, you should let your employer know about your injury as soon as possible. If you seek medical treatment, let the doctors or medical providers know that you were hurt at work. They’ll have paperwork that they can fill out for the purpose of workers’ compensation.
You need to act quickly to make your claim. There are time limits on claims, so you will want to inform your employer about the injury and begin your claim as soon as you can. If you run into trouble making the claim, such as your employer refusing to help with it or finding out that they didn’t carry workers’ compensation insurance, then you may want to look into further legal options.