Workplace injuries happen all the time and can range from getting heavy items dropped on you in a construction site to slipping on the wet floor of an office kitchen. No matter where you work, an injury could occur – the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests around 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries happen every year!
Aside from the obvious downside of leaving you in considerable pain, workplace injurges have an additional negative effect. If you don’t know your legal rights, they can leave you with a significant loss of income. Especially if you have to take time off work to recover and rehabilitate from your injury.
With that in mind, it’s time to make sure you get as much money as possible when you’re hurt at work and it wasn’t your fault – here’s what you should do:
1. Check your worker’s compensation coverage
Worker’s compensation insurance should be in place by all businesses as protection for employees injured or made sick on the job. If you fall into either of these categories, you have the legal right to make a claim on this insurance and get financial compensation to cover your injury recovery process.
But here’s the thing; worker’s compensation might not cover rehabilitation in all states. Some states have a rule where it only covers your rehab if you sustain a critical injury – like blindness or a permanent disability. That’s why it’s important to check your coverage to see if you can get money for rehab work or not. If you can’t, then you’re not getting as much compensation out of this as you deserve.
2. Consult a workplace accident attorney
It might transpire that you’re not getting the money you deserve from a worker’s comp payout. This happens more often than you’d believe, so your next step is to go down the legal route. Look for an attorney specializing in workplace accidents and talk to them about your situation. Give them the facts and they’ll tell you where you stand. Nine times out of ten, you’ll be eligible for a lawsuit to get the money you deserve.
This sounds daunting and you may worry about burning bridges with your employer, but think about it logically. You were hurt at work because of their health & safety negligence.
As a result, you aren’t getting your real salary because you’re either forced out of work or your sick pay has ran out. They’re also not providing full compensation through insurance, so what choice do you have? Taking legal action ensures you get every penny you deserve and can focus on recovering from your injury without worrying about the financial consequences.
The bottom line is to be aware of what you deserve when you’re injured at work. At the bare minimum, your employer should cover 100% of your lost wages. They should also be responsible for paying medical bills or rehab costs. If you don’t get this through a worker’s compensation payout, then legal action is the only viable option. Hopefully, you never have to deal with any of this – but at least you know what to do if it does happen.