Home health workers may not work at a specific office or job site under their employer’s supervision, but their work-related injuries can still get them compensation. When you get hurt at work, follow this guide to understand how to file, what benefits you can receive, and what complications might arise in your case.
You can file a Workers’ Comp claim by notifying your employer of the injury within 21 days. If they reject the claim, you can go before a Workers’ Comp Judge (WCJ) by filing a formal Claim Petition. Our lawyers can help you collect the evidence needed to win your case, which often involves proof of how the accident happened. Your benefits should cover medical bills, lost wages, and potentially more if you also file a lawsuit.
For help with your claim, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945 right away.
How to File a Claim
Our Workers’ Comp attorneys can help you file your claim according to these standards and requirements:
Deadline to File
You start a claim by notifying your employer of your injury within 21 days of the injury. You can still technically file as long as you provide notice within 120 days.
Filing a Formal Claim Petition
If they reject your claim, then you can file a formal Claim Petition with the Workers’ Comp Office of Adjudication. You should always have a lawyer help you prepare this, as it has a lot of information you need to specify correctly.
This must be filed within 3 years of the injury.
What Happens Next?
After that, there are exams to undergo, including an “Independent Medical Exam” (IME) with a doctor your employer chooses. We have to collect our own medical records and doctors’ reports, plus other evidence, to present your claim.
If the claim does not settle, it will go to a formal hearing with a Workers’ Comp Judge (WCJ).
Can You File a Claim if You Move Around for Work?
Home health aides might not work at an office like traditional employees. Working in a home means your employer does not control the area, but does this stop your claim?
“Work-Related” Standard
Workers’ Comp deals with work-related injuries. They do not have to be at a particular office or job site, as long as they were work-related. This means home health aides can still usually file claims.
Only Employees Covered
Some people who work as home health aides are independent contractors and may not be covered through Workers’ Comp. If your employer closely controls your work, you may qualify as an employee even if you are paid with a 1099 and move around from place to place for work.
How to Get Medical Care Through Workers’ Comp
All medical care to treat a work-related injury should be covered once your claim is accepted, but there are rules about how to get this care.
90-Day Rule
In the first 90 days of treatment, you have to get care through “panel doctors” that your employer has on an approved provider list. This is usually posted in your workplace but you can also ask your employer for the list.
Some of these care providers are not physicians and may be chiropractors or other licensed providers.
Exceptions
In the first 90 days, if you need surgery, you can choose a doctor for a second opinion. You still have to use the listed doctor for surgery, but your doctor’s second opinion might change the course of treatment.
If you need a specialist that is not listed, you can usually choose that doctor, too.
What Evidence You Need
To win your case, you need particular evidence.
Doctor’s Report
You have to have a doctor analyze your injuries and conditions and provide a report explaining that the injury was work-related. Without this, we may not be able to connect the injuries to your work tasks in a way that satisfies the WCJ.
A strong report also helps push employers toward settling.
Your Testimony
You know best what happened to you in most cases. You can detail how the injury was work-related, what you were doing when you were hurt, how the accident happened, who was at fault, and what your current work restrictions are.
Other Potential Testimony
Other people may also be able to testify, such as coworkers and supervisors. For home health workers, your client might have been the only other witness.
We usually capture other testimony through depositions in either side’s law offices rather than in the hearing itself.
Records and Logs
Other relevant work logs, hours logs, and data might be relevant. For example, your employer might have logs of how many hours you worked at a particular site or home, what tasks you did there, etc.
For example, if you have a back injury from lifting, the records saying you had to lift patients will help show that was a definite part of your job.
Benefits Available
Workers’ Comp typically pays three potential areas of benefits.
Medical Benefits
Medical benefits should be paid for any work-related injury. This can cover hospitalization, surgeries, diagnostic testing, and rehabilitation, among other treatment.
Wage-Loss Benefits
If your injury keeps you from working for at least 7 days, you may qualify for wage-loss benefits. If you cannot work at all, the rate is 2/3 of your pre-injury wage. If you still work to some extent, it is 2/3 of the difference in wages.
These are capped at the statewide average weekly wage and have a floor at 50% of that wage or 90% of your pre-injury wage, whichever is lower.
Specific Loss Benefits
Some permanent injuries (amputation, lost function, lost vision, lost hearing, and serious facial scars) get an additional 2/3 of your pre-injury wage paid for a number of weeks, depending on the injury.
These are called “specific loss” benefits and are capped at the statewide average weekly wage and have a floor at half that.
Filing Lawsuits for Work-Related Injuries as a Home Health Aide
Lawsuits can often be filed for car accidents and other injuries obtained while doing your job. Lawsuits are also sometimes allowed even within core job tasks and can overlap with Workers’ Comp claims, as long as certain conditions are met.
Fault Required
Workers’ Comp is a no-fault system and pays regardless of how the accident happened. However, you need to prove the defendant was at fault to win a lawsuit.
This means showing they injured you by breaching a legal duty.
Third Party Required
You can only sue third parties, not your employer or coworkers. This may allow you to sue a client, such as the owner of the home where you slipped and fell on an icy walkway.
It may also allow for a car accident claim against a driver who hit you while you were going between sites.
Pain and Suffering Available
In a lawsuit, you can seek pain and suffering damages. These may be a huge part of your injury case, and they are not allowed through Workers’ Comp.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers for Injured Home Health Aides in Pennsylvania Today
For your free case evaluation, call Cardamone Law’s Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
