Were you recently injured on the job in Bolingbrook, Illinois? Are you an essential worker who contracted COVID-19 at work? You might be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim with your employer and collect money for your injury. Workers’ compensation, which private employers are required to provide in Illinois, may be able to cover your medical bills, lost wages, and other injury-related costs. A Bolingbrook workers compensation lawyer from The Kryder Law Group, LLC, may help you pursue a claim with your employer and fight back against a claim denial.
The Kryder Law Group, LLC, has helped people with their work comp cases in Bolingbrook to recover compensation. Because we believe results are what matter, we do not charge our clients an attorney’s fee until they agree to a fair settlement. Our personal injury attorneys are eager to get started on your case right away and offer a free case evaluation.
According to the Illinois Works’ Compensation Commission, the state requires private employers to cover their workers with workers’ compensation insurance, with only a few rare exceptions. An employer who fails to provide this coverage may get fined anywhere from $500 to more than $10,000 for a willful failure. A repeat violator may face even severer fines and may lose the right to continue their business operation in the state of Illinois. Illinois takes work comp very seriously and believes in upholding the rights of workers injured on the job.
If you suffer a work injury in Illinois, you may want to pursue a work comp claim, especially if your injury is severe enough to require medical care or force you to miss work. You should not have to suffer the hardships of medical bills and missed paychecks after an on-the-job injury. That is why workers’ compensation insurance exists. Once your claim gets approved, you can receive compensation to cover the costs of medical bills and lost paychecks, along with additional injury-related expenses.
While the work comp system is designed to be fast and efficient, and to offer injured employees the assurance of guaranteed compensation, it does not always work as perfectly as intended. A common challenge faced by injured workers is the threat of a claim denial. Because an employer’s work comp premiums might increase when workers file claims, they have a financial incentive to deny claims when they can.
However, an employer may only deny a work comp claim in rare circumstances. If your claim was denied, the Bolingbrook workers’ compensation lawyers at The Kryder Law Group, LLC, may be able to help you appeal the decision and get your claim approved.
Only under two very specific circumstances, it is within an employer’s right to deny a work comp claim filed by an injured employee.
The first situation may involve an injured worker who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time they got hurt. The responsibility falls on the employer to prove that the worker was intoxicated while at work, which led to their injury.
An employer may also be able to deny a work comp claim if they can prove with evidence that the employee’s injury was the result of gross misconduct. This does not mean an employee can be denied benefits because of their carelessness or even negligence. For the claim denial to be valid, the worker had to have been blatantly behaving in a reckless manner.
Your workers’ compensation package may include compensation for the following injury-related losses:
Workers’ compensation may be able to cover your medical expenses associated with your on-the-job injury for as long as you require medical care. That means both your current and your anticipated future medical bills may be covered, including hospital stays, surgeries, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and other medical needs.
Workers’ compensation may also pay you for your lost wages. It might cover most or all of your salary or wage while you are away from work.
If you return to work on a limited capacity because the injury prevents you from working at the same level as before, you may be able to collect compensation to make up the difference in your current and previous income.
You may also receive compensation for your prescription drug costs.
If a party other than your employer caused or contributed to your on-the-job injury, we may be able to pursue compensation from them in a private lawsuit in addition to filing a work comp claim with your employer.
The benefit of a private claim against a third party is that, on top of the economic damages you may be eligible to recover, you might also collect compensation for noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
According to the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure 735 ILCS 5/13-202, the statute of limitations in Illinois is two years to file a lawsuit over a personal injury, which includes work-related injuries.
However, if you are filing a work comp claim, the deadlines come much sooner, and you are required to notify your employer right away of your intent to file a claim. Once you do that, you should speak with a law firm representative so that you can be clear on your rights and obligations.
The Bolingbrook compensation lawyers workers at The Kryder Law Group, LLC, are eager to speak with you about your on-the-job injury. We will fight for the compensation you are entitled to collect. Call today.