If you have been injured while working, you likely want to know if you are covered under workers compensation and are therefore entitled to some sort of compensation, at least for your medical bills. You might not have the money to pay a lawyer to review your case and likely don't want to try to start a claim unless you think that you might have a chance. Here are some tips for determining if your workers compensation case is legitimate.
1. Make Sure You're an Employee
Your first step is to make sure that you are an employee. This might seem difficult because you might see it as if you do work, you are entitled to workers compensation. If you are not paid wages (if you're a volunteer), then you are not going to be covered under workers compensation because you are not technically an employee. You are also not covered under workers compensation if you are a private contractor or independent contractor. Finally, in some states you are not considered to be an employee if you are a partner or co-owner of a business. In basically all other cases, you are indeed an employee and are therefore covered under workers compensation.
2. Make Sure the Injury is Serious Enough
In many cases, if your injury is does not require medical attention that goes beyond something that someone certified in first aid could provide, such as a bandage or a cold compress, then your case will not be eligible for workers compensation. If your case does require you to a see a doctor, then you are eligible.
3. Tie Mental Illness to Work
If you are injured while performing a duty that is part of your normal job description, then you are entitled to workers compensation. You don't really need to prove the link because it is usually relatively obvious. What is not as obvious are mental illnesses caused by work. You need to be able to make a clear case that your mental illness was a result of your job. You can do this by getting a mental health professional to testify on your behalf. If you have such a professional, then you likely have a workers compensation case.
4. Check That a Particular Event Caused Stress
Finally, make sure that you check that a particular event caused any stress that you might be feeling about your job, rather than the stress built up over time to the point where you are unable to function. Your case will be much more successful if there was a traumatic event that you can show led to an increased feeling of stress.
Click here for more information or talk to a company that specializes in workers compensation.
Share10 May 2016
Like many people, I once found learning about law very intimidating. My brother went to law school and I remember glancing through a few of his books and wondering if I was actually reading English due to all of the legal jargon in them! However, when I ended up in a sticky legal situation due to accidentally breaking a small law I didn't know existed, I realized that I needed to learn more about the law, so I could make sure to follow it precisely in the future. My brother helped to break down some complicated legal concepts to me, and I have since been studying up online. I want to post what I have learned and continue to learn about law in the future on my new blog, so my knowledge cannot only help myself, but also help others!