Know Your Worker Rights: What to Do If You’re Injured at Work
When you’re injured at work, you need to take appropriate action.
Worker’s compensation might sound like an unsavory process, but if you aren’t fit to work because of something that happened at your job, you’ve got to go through it. You need to be compensated for your time away from work, but also for your medical bills and any ongoing therapy that you may require to get fit.
In this post, we’re going to walk you through the worker’s comp process. It’s going to be a long, tedious process, but you’ve got to know your rights and get some good out of a bad situation. Let’s get started.
What to Do When You’re Injured at Work
The aftermath of a work-related injury can be quite hectic. Even if you think you’re alright in the moments after the injury, things can turn up later. For that reason, you must document the occurrence and make sure that any witnesses can corroborate your story.
Then, you need to report the injury to a superior. If you don’t report an injury within 30 days to your employer, you may run the risk of losing any rights to worker’s compensation.
Get Medical Assistance
In the immediate aftermath of the injury, after you’ve notified your employer, you may need medical attention. Depending on the severity of the injury, this might be the first thing you do.
Your treating doctor becomes a crucial element in this entire process. When you’re injured at work, you may have to see a doctor that’s been chosen by your employer’s insurance carrier.
In some states, workers are allowed to choose their own worker’s compensation doctor. Look into this before agreeing to use your employer’s chosen doctor. What the treating physician concludes about your condition, both immediate and ongoing, will be one of the more important aspects of your worker’s comp claim.
Consult a Worker’s Comp Attorney
It’s advisable, if you have the funds, to speak to a worker’s compensation attorney before filing a claim. Your employer won’t necessarily get in your way of filing a claim, but it’s important to know what your legal rights are.
An attorney will be able to review your claim, take into account what your medical bills cost, how much work you’ll be missing, and any ongoing injuries that will require attention in the future, then ensure that no stone goes unturned. Don’t sign any agreements without speaking to your worker’s comp attorney first.
File Worker’s Comp Claim
When your doctor has an idea of what you’re dealing with medically, you can begin to file your claim. The more information that you can provide in the claim, the better your settlement will be.
Include a detailed description of the event that led to the injury, any testimonials from witnessing coworkers and their contact info, employer info, wage info, medical bills, and your doctor’s professional medical opinion of how this injury might affect you in the future.
Get What You Deserve
If all goes well, you’ll get an appropriate settlement that covers your medical bills and any time that you have to miss due to being injured at work. In some cases, a settlement offer will be much lower than what you’re looking for. This is when you go all-in with a lawyer and fight for what you deserve.
Your employer isn’t necessarily out to get you, but their insurance company will do everything they can to save money. If this injury has a lasting effect on your quality of life, you need to be compensated for your troubles, so never settle for less than you should.
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