Workers’ Compensation can be a huge difference in the life of an injured worker. While you cannot work, your medical bills may stack up along with other expenses like rent and groceries. Workers’ Comp can get benefits for your lost earnings and medical care, often much faster than a lawsuit, and often in situations a lawsuit could never cover.
Working with a lawyer can help you get your benefits granted. Employers and the insurance carriers they work with often deny claims on any grounds they can, hoping employers will give up. But our attorneys can fight for you to get the benefits you deserve.
Call Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 for a free case review with our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers today.
Workers’ Compensation vs. Lawsuits
Workers’ Compensation is designed to help injured workers get paid faster and without having to prove who was at fault. This comes with a few important rules to understand:
When You Can File
A lawsuit can only be filed against another person or company who caused your injuries. When it comes to work injuries, you usually cannot sue your own employer, nor can you sue for an accident where your own negligence caused your injuries.
Workers’ Comp covers any work-related accident, regardless of who was at fault, and even when no one was at fault or the accident was unavoidable. The core requirement for coverage is that the accident was work-related, not who was at fault.
Who Can You File Against?
Workers’ Compensation claims are all paid by your employer, regardless of who caused your injuries. This means that even if you injured yourself by accident, you were hurt by another coworker, or someone outside the workplace hurt you (e.g. a customer or delivery driver), your employer still pays.
You can potentially sue other third-party defendants like drivers, suppliers, customers, and product manufacturers, even if you file for Workers’ Comp separately.
If you are an “independent contractor” instead of an “employee,” then there is no restriction against suing an employer, and you can sue. However, independent contractors are not covered under Workers’ Comp.
Covered Damages
Workers’ Compensation pays for three things:
- Medical treatment
- Lost wages – usually at a rate of 2/3 of your pre-injury wage or 2/3 of the difference in wages if you are working while injured, though this is subject to certain caps and floors
- Specific loss awards for certain permanent injuries, amputations, lost hearing/vision, or facial scarring.
Note that this does not cover 100% of lost wages, and there is no compensation for pain and suffering. These and other relevant damages can be claimed in a separate lawsuit.
If you pursue both tracks to recovery and get paid for the same thing twice, the insurance carrier is usually allowed to get those damages paid back to them, so you are not paid double.
When Can I File for Workers’ Comp?
Workers’ Comp covers you from the first day of employment, meaning any injury that happens within the scope of your employment is eligible for a claim. You should report your injury to your employer within 21 days of it happening to start your claim.
If you are rejected, you have up to 3 years from the injury to file a Claim Petition in court to get your case reviewed by a judge and get the employer’s decision overturned.
What Counts as a Work-Related Injury?
Only work-related injuries get coverage. This can include any injury that happens while you are performing work duties.
This “work duties” a.k.a. “within the scope of your employment” category is quite broad and can apply to all these kinds of accidents:
- Slip and falls at your workplace
- Auto accidents while driving for work (though commuting accidents typically are not covered)
- Assault by customers or coworkers
- Falls from ladders, scaffolding, and other high places
- Injuries from lifting or carrying
- Repetitive stress injuries
- Cancer and other illnesses from exposure at work
- Electrocution injuries
- Heart attacks or other injuries/conditions from shock, heat exhaustion, or work-related stress.
In some cases, proving that an illness or occupational disease is related to your work is difficult. Some conditions specifically require proof that there is a higher incidence of that disease in your occupation than in the population at large.
How Do I Prove My Injury?
You need to prove your injury was indeed work-related and prove that it is disabling to get both medical and wage-loss benefits. This evidence will help:
- Your testimony can tell the judge exactly what happened
- Statements from other witnesses can corroborate this
- Security camera footage can show the judge the accident directly
- Medical reports can opine on the cause of injury and its connection to work
- Medical reports can also detail how your injury is disabling and what restrictions on activity you face.
Some of this evidence is expensive to collect, and our lawyers are leveraged to afford many of these costs. We can get reimbursed from the defense upon winning your claim.
What Does Hiring a Workers’ Comp Lawyer Cost?
Workers’ Compensation lawyers have their fees strictly watched by Workers’ Comp Judges. We are typically allowed to take no more than 20% of the award in your case, and all fee structures have to be approved by a judge.
In any case, this typically means you do not pay up front, and you only pay out of the winnings in your case. This helps more people afford lawyers so that there is not another cost piled on them in their moment of need.
Do I Need a Lawyer?
As you may have noticed from the expenses involved in collecting evidence and the complex nature of the Workers’ Compensation system, going in without a lawyer is probably going to block your case from proceeding. On top of this, your injury might be disabling enough to make working as your own lawyer difficult.
Because of this, you should always work with an attorney for a Workers’ Comp claim. We can also put our experience and knowledge to work for you, negotiate with your employer, and help evaluate the value of a settlement.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Royersford Today
Call Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Comp attorneys at (267) 651-7945 for your free case review.
