Pennsylvania Attorney for Amazon Workers Injured at Work

Amazon has facilities in the Greater Philadelphia area, in the Lehigh Valley, and in growing locations across Pennsylvania.  Amazon workers across the state face the potential for injury at work from routine tasks, unexpected accidents, and more.  Our lawyers seek to help them fight for Workers’ Compensation benefits to cover their injuries and lost earnings.

Getting Workers’ Comp from Amazon might be difficult, as large companies like these – and the insurance carriers they work with – are often unwilling to compromise and settle for fair amounts without the worker putting up a fight.  Our attorneys can fight that fight for you by filing petitions with Workers’ Compensation Judges and using our training and experience with the Workers’ Comp system to get your benefits granted.

Call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law by dialing (267) 651-7945 for a free case assessment.

What Amazon Workers Are Covered by Workers’ Compensation in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania law requires every employer that has any employees within the state to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance to cover its employees’ injuries.  This means that virtually every employee that Amazon has within the Commonwealth’s borders should be able to file for Workers’ Comp coverage if they get hurt while working for Amazon.

This surely means that all kinds of workers will be covered, including warehouse workers, sorting center workers, fulfillment workers, Amazon grocery workers, forklift operators, managers, trainers, and even support staff like maintenance workers and custodial staff.  However, there are a few caveats.

First and foremost, Workers’ Comp only covers employees, which means traditional hourly or salary workers.  This excludes contractors who are hired by Amazon, potentially cutting out drivers, delivery workers, and maybe some custodial/cleaning staff from coverage.

Amazon delivery drivers are typically not Amazon employees and are instead hired as contractors.  This means that they control the time, place, and manner of their work, and Amazon does not get to tell them what to do all day.  However, given the way that Amazon typically manages and controls its drivers, it is possible that Amazon might be misclassifying workers billed as independent contractors, and it is always worth it to have our attorneys for Amazon workers injured at work take a look at your specific situation.

Additionally, some drivers and contractors might not be Amazon employees, but they might be employees of third-party companies hired for cleaning, driving, or other contract work.  As such, you might not be able to claim Workers’ Comp from Amazon, but you may be able to get it from the third-party company that employs you.  Some complex laws might also allow you to actually claim Workers’ Comp from Amazon anyway if your direct employer contracts with Amazon but failed to carry the required Work Comp insurance they were supposed to have.

Common Workplace Injuries for Amazon Workers in Pennsylvania

When discussing injuries to Amazon employees, this is primarily going to deal with accidents involving package handling and warehousing/sorting.  This puts most of the injuries into the category of lifting and carrying accidents, falls, and other warehouse accidents.

Back injuries are some of the most common work injuries.  Whether you sustained the injury in a fall or a lifting/carrying accident, you may be able to get benefits for the time out of work and the medical care needed to get you back on your feet after a serious back injury.

Falls, whether they be slip and falls from ground level or falls from heights, can cause substantial injuries.  Broken bones, head injuries, back injuries, and more can all leave you laid up for quite a while, resulting in benefits.

Packages and pallets falling on top of workers can also cause serious injuries, including broken bones, blunt force trauma, head injuries, punctures, and more.  These injuries might require emergency medical care and ongoing follow-up care as you recover.

Dehydration, exhaustion, heat stroke, and other issues from difficult work conditions can result in neurological or cardiac injuries and episodes, potentially including heart attacks and other serious injuries.  While we often recover quickly from heat exhaustion or dehydration, cases involving heart attacks or other long-term effects could keep you out of work for a long time while you recover.

Lastly, accidents from machinery and vehicles can also cause serious injuries.  Being run over by an 18-wheeler in a loading bay, getting your arm caught in a backed-up conveyor belt/roller, or being hit by a forklift can all cause serious injuries that could result in lost time at work.

Benefits for Injured Amazon Workers Under Workers’ Comp in Pennsylvania

When you file a claim for Workers’ Comp in Pennsylvania, you typically get two areas of benefits, with a third area of benefits available to some workers for specific injuries listed in the Workers’ Comp Act.

Medical Benefits

Any treatment for your work injury should be covered under your employer’s Workers’ Comp insurance.  This means initial emergency medical care should be covered, but so should follow-up appointments with doctors and specialists, ongoing rehabilitation and physical therapy needs, pain management medication, and more.  In general, your employer gets to list doctors you are required to use in the first 90 days, but there are exceptions to let you get care from doctors off this list in some cases.  After the first 90 days, you choose your own care providers.

Wage-Loss Benefits

Lost wages are often the most contentious area of benefits, with Workers’ Comp requiring your employer to pay you 2/3 of your average weekly wage as long as you are fully disabled from the work injury.  This could mean receiving these benefits for the rest of your life if your condition still passes exams as a full disability, but many workers do often return to work.  Partial disability benefits can be paid at 2/3 of the difference between old and new wages if your injury lets you work at a reduced pay rate.

Specific Loss

Specific loss benefits are paid for certain permanent injuries such as lost limbs, lost function, loss of hearing/sight, and facial scarring.  A set number of weeks of benefits are paid for each listed injury in the Act, such as a lost thumb, a lost foot, or loss of one eye.

Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers for Amazon Workers in Pennsylvania

Call the attorneys for Amazon workers injured at work at Cardamone Law by dialing (267) 651-7945 for a free case evaluation.