Illinois Work Comp Attorney

Illinois Work Comp and Your Job

Dirk May Help, Illinois Work Comp Attorney, Illinois Work Comp Lawyer, Law, Workers Compensation

What if you are injured on the job.

Are you stuck in your job?

The answer is usually, fortunately not.

The reason is that in Illinois the law requires employers to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance.

The insurance company must cover your medical bills, pay you while you are off work, and pay you for the value of the injury.

It does not matter if you continue to work at the same place, quit, retire or change jobs. It does not even matter if your employer goes out of business.

The insurance company stands in the place of your employer and follows you wherever you go.

However, it does make a difference when you have limitations as a result of your work injury.

For instance, if you may not be able to return to your former work then you cannot just retire or quit your job.

The reason is that you have to give your employer a chance to see if they can accommodate your restrictions.

If you retire, then you will not be able to make the argument that a lifting restriction will keep you from your former job and make it so that you can only perform sit down work or no work at all.

Questions about your work injury? Feel free to contact Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Dirk May with Williams and Swee at 309-827-4371.

Ask and You May Receive: Illinois Work Comp

Dirk May Help, Illinois Work Comp Attorney, Illinois Work Comp Lawyer, Insurance, Settlements, Workers Compensation

It may surprise you to learn that Workers’ Compensation insurance companies do not always pay injured workers what they are due.

There is no rule that says Work Comp insurance companies must pay you for injuries if you do not ask.

In Illinois you are entitled to payment of your medical bills, payment when you are off work, and payment for the injury itself for work injuries.

Some insurance companies will deny payment of any of these even when the claim is compensable.

At other times an insurance company will pay for the medical treatment, but not pay off work pay.

Finally, some insurance companies pay for medical treatment and time off pay but ignore making a settlement offer.

What can you do?

Make sure that request payment of all your medical bills, payment for being off work, and make certain that you request a settlement offer to close out your case when you are ready.

You should make these requests in writing or at least via email to document everything in the event you need to go up the ladder to an insurance company supervisor.

Remember, it does not hurt to ask. If the insurance company denies your requests or does something questionable make sure that you contact an experienced Illinois Work Comp lawyer to enforce your rights pursuant to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.

Questions about your Work Comp claim? Feel free to contact Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Dirk May with Williams and Swee at 309-827-4371.

Ebola and Workers’ Compensation

Dirk May Illinois Work Comp Attorney, Illinois Work Comp Lawyer, Law, Medical, Workers Compensation

With Ebola in the news this is an opportune time to discuss it and its relationship to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation law.

The basic idea behind Workers’ Compensation law is to protect workers who are injured on the job.

However, the protection does not extend to all on the job injuries.

Let’s look at a couple of different scenarios.

A health care worker is assisting at the hospital when a patient is brought in. She helps the doctor with examining the patient and taking the patient to his hospital room. It is determined that the patient is infected with the Ebola virus. The health care worker contracts Ebola several days later.

In this situation it is clear that the health care worker would be entitled to benefits pursuant to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. This is because she was exposed during the course of her regular duties and her risk is beyond that of the general population. Illinois Courts have made the risk exposure an important factor in deciding Workers’ Compensation cases.

Another example would involve a food service worker who serves a regular patron who has just returned from a trip to West Africa and has contracted Ebola. The food service worker becomes infected with Ebola from the patron. This is a much tougher case. Using the exposure to risk analysis, the food service worker’s job may not expose him to the risk of Ebola any more than anyone else who works a service job. Of course, you may be able to argue that the nature of Ebola is so contagious that anyone who has a job dealing with the public is at risk.

These situations show that just because you are injured on the job it does not necessary mean you will be able to recover Workers’ Compensation benefits.

Questions about your work injury? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Comp Attorney Dirk May with Williams and Swee at 309-827-4371.

Workers’ Compensation and Getting Paid

Dirk May Help, Illinois Work Comp Attorney, Illinois Work Comp Lawyer, Settlements, Workers Compensation

The most important part of your work injury is getting paid if you cannot work.

The insurance company should be paying you if your injury happened on the job and your doctor has taken you off work.

If the Work Comp insurance company is not paying you, then you should contact an experienced Work Comp attorney right away.

If the Work Comp insurance company stops paying you after they send you to see one of its own doctors, then you contact a lawyer immediately.

The problem is that some injured workers forget to get an off work slip from their doctor. Failure to get the doctor to put your need to be off work in writing can stop your payments.

Once you are sent to the see the insurance company doctor she will write a report that gives the opinion whether the accident and injury are related, the treatment needed and your restrictions. This will determine whether you will get paid and the future course of your treatment.

The only way to get payments back on track is to prepare for trial. This includes having your treating doctor

Workers’ Compensation and Your Doctor

Dirk May Illinois Work Comp Attorney, Illinois Work Comp Lawyer, Law, Settlements, Workers Compensation

In Illinois Workers’ Compensation cases the injured worker must prove every part of the case to win.

This includes proving an accident happened during the course of work, that there is a connection between the accident and your medical condition,
that the medical treatment is related to your accident, and the nature and extent of your injury.

The support and testimony of your medical doctor will be crucial to your case.

The doctor’s opinion regarding your work injury and its connection with the accident is absolutely the most important part of your case.

The doctor’s opinion regarding your medical treatment and its relationship to the accident is also important.

Another vital part of the case is the permanent restrictions the doctor believes applies to you.

If your doctor does not strongly come out in favor of the connection between your accident and your current medical condition, then your case is over.

If your doctor releases you without any permanent restrictions or limitations, then even if you have ongoing problems the value of your case will drop.

The way determine what your doctor believes about your case is to ask him.

However, the only true test of what your doctor will say is to have him testify under oath during a deposition.

You should go to the doctor as soon as possible after your accident to remove all doubt regarding your accident and the need for medical treatment.

To help your doctor develop a strong opinion in your case the first visit is very important. Make sure you explain in detail how you were injured and what parts of your body were hurt. You should remind the doctor at each visit that you were injured at work and the limitations you are experiencing.

Questions about your Work Comp case? Feel free to contact Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Dirk May with Williams and Swee at 309-827-4371.