Bloomington Illinois Work Injury Attorney

Your Wages Make A Difference in Work Comp

Dirk May Workers Compensation ,

In Illinois, the Workers’ Compensation Law bases awards and settlements on your wage.

Here is a quick example.

An McDonald’s employee injures his back and has the same surgery as a union worker at a manufacturing plant.

Both injured workers settle for 20 percent of the person. This means 100 weeks of benefits.

Assume the McDonald’s worker earns $10 per hour for 40 hours of work per week. $400 average weekly wage.

Assume the union worker earns $30 per hour for 40 hours of work per week.  $1200 average weekly wage.

The law provides the injured worker is entitled to 60 percent of the average weekly wage.

McDonald’s worker $400 times .6= $240 times 100 weeks of benefits= $24,000

Union worker $1200 times .6= $720 times 100 weeks of benefits= $72,000

Big difference in settlement with the same injury and surgery.

Questions about your work injury? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Injury Lawyer Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

Watch Out for this Work Injury Mistake

Dirk May Workers Compensation ,

I recently took the testimony of a treating doctor and it reminded me of a very important tip for those injured on the job.

The doctor testified that his patient told him that he was injured at home, and not till later did he mention a work accident.

This is very damaging to an injured worker because normally the Arbitrator will pay close attention to what the patient initially tells the health care providers.

The theory is that you are most accurate at or near the time of your accident.

At times you can overcome big mistakes like this with testimony of a witness who saw the accident, or if your earlier medical records contain an accurate history of your accident.

However, it pays to make sure that you tell every health care provider that you were injured at work  and how it happened.

Do not sink your case with careless mistakes.

Questions about your work injury claim? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Comp Lawyer Dirk May at 309-827-4371.