WORKER's Compensation

The first three rules they teach human resources managers, at Fortune 1,000 Companies and smart small businesses, are “document”, “document”, and to “document”.

Worker’s compensation claims have proven to be a huge expense for many companies, they’re one of the focuses of growing HR departments, and thorough documentation is their best defense against expensive long-term compensation claims. The subtext is that companies can decrease their worker’s compensation costs because they have the “facts” on paper, while those injured at work rarely even know what they should be documenting.

For example, like almost all areas of law, worker’s compensation claims have a time limit. While there are Federal worker’s compensation laws, the vast majority of workplace accidents are governed by state laws, and each state has totally unique requirements for worker’s compensation claims. While “statutes of limitations” allow prosecutors to file criminal charges many years or decades after the incident, most States require you to file a workers’ compensation claim within weeks, months, or a small handful of years, in order to retain your rights to reimbursements for medical costs and lost wages.

Fortunately, most businesses choose to do the right thing in the immediate aftermath of a workplace accident. They often pay short-term medical expenses and provide for lost wages in the weeks or months after an accident. Unfortunately, the laws of business and human nature often lead to challenges for the injured party when costs mount and time passes.

In many States, a business’s payment of medical bills and/or for lost wages is not an admission of liability. Instead, people injured in workplace accidents lose all rights to worker’s compensation if they don’t file a legal claim with the appropriate State Agency within a set amount of time.

In addition, many States have drawn a clear line between Worker’s Compensation claims made for a “single event” workplace accident, and damage caused by repetitive motion injuries, redundant exposure to harsh substances, or negligence on the employer’s part.

Some States have tried to institute caps on payments, others have introduced very particular legal hurdles designed to make it absolutely necessary for worker’s to take it upon themselves to preserve their rights to workers’ compensation.

Insurance companies and their client businesses have lobbied government hard to decrease their workers’ compensation costs. Over the last few decades, most States and the Federal Government have rewritten many of the laws governing Worker’s Compensation.

No matter if your employer was a godsend or an enemy in the aftermath of your workplace accident, you need an experienced Worker’s Comp lawyer in order to help file the paperwork, understand applicable worker compensation laws, and to protect you and your family in the long term. Hiring a lawyer to talk to your employer is seldom an act that people take lightly. Your job is both the source or your livelihood and a place where you’d prefer to be comfortable 20 to 60 hours a week.

Nevertheless, if you are injured and unable to work because of an injury you incurred at your job, your employer is most likely responsible for all medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and lost wages that result. Without a lawyer familiar with applicable workers’ compensation laws, you are literally trusting that your company and their insurance provider will act in your best interests for as long as it takes to make you “whole” once again.

Businesses, their insurance companies, their lobbyists, and the politicians they have reached, have set a minefield for those people injured at work that still require medical treatment and salary support months or years after an accident. Only an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer is truly on your side.

They can’t talk to your employer without your permission, they literally get paid based on your acceptance of the settlements they earn, and workers’ comp lawyers are legally bound to serve your best interests. The laws have been shaped to make it difficult to get the worker’s compensation the law usually admits you have coming.

Hiring an experienced worker’s compensation lawyer will initially provide you with an assessment of your situation. Your lawyer can then help you dot all the I’s and cross the T’s, to ensure that you have met you legal obligations. Most importantly, your worker’s compensation lawyer will fight for you if your current or former employer (or more often their insurance company) decides it would simply be cheaper to fight your claims. If you need a Worker's Compensation Lawyer in the greater Tampa area, please give us a call.