No matter how careful you are, accidents happen. When these accidents happen at work, employees can find themselves dealing not only with health concerns, but also stressful legal issues. In 2013, there were over 900,000 reported cases of occupational injuries and illnesses that led to missed work. In the same year, American workers missed an average of 8 days each due to various occupational maladies. When American workers find their health suffering due to their work, they are legally entitled to file for what is known as workers compensation.
Workers Compensation
A workers compensation claim is a type of insurance that pays compensation to help cover a worker’s healthcare costs and lost wages stemming from a work-related illness or injury. Typically, a workers compensation claim will cover all medical costs and will disperse benefits within a few days of a claim being filed. Most of the time, these claims are easily handled by HR departments or in-house legal teams. However, sometimes these claims are disputed by employers for various reasons. If you’re hurt on the job and your workers compensation claim is disputed by you employer, what can you do? The answer is simple: hire a workers compensation lawyer.
Workers Compensation Lawyers
Most workers compensation claims are handled in-house and are accepted without dispute. However, sometimes employers will dispute workers compensation claims. Some employers may argue that a worker injured herself due to negligence, or sometimes employers may not believe that a worker’s injuries were a result of their employment. When these disputes happen, it’s important to hire a team of expert workers compensation lawyers.
Workers compensation attorneys specialize in the settling workers compensation disputes between employees and employers. Typically, these disputes are minor, but sometimes they can snowball into lengthy and costly court proceedings. Many times, these workers comp claims are contested not by employers themselves, but by insurance companies who insure businesses and their workers. When this happens, it’s nearly impossible for workers to defend themselves against the vast legal teams that large insurance companies possess. Workers compensation lawyers typically have years of experience litigating against insurance companies and specialize in getting workers the compensation they deserve.
Don’t Go It Alone
If you or a family member has been injured or made sick on the job, don’t try to fight insurance companies or HR departments by yourself. Look into hiring a team of specialized workers compensation lawyers who can get you back on your financial feet fast.