The Problems You May Run Into When Filing For Workers' Compensation

Do you have an injury that was caused by performing the required responsibilities of your job? If so, you likely feel that you have a right to use workers' compensation to receive compensation so that you do not have to pay for your medical bills or lost wages. Here are some problems that you can run into when trying to use workers' compensation.

The Doctor Doesn't Attribute The Injury To Your Job

Once you file a report for workers' compensation, you'll need to visit an approved doctor to verify your injury. Unfortunately, you may not get the news that you want to hear after visiting this doctor. It is possible that they confirm that you have an injury, but do not attribute it to your job. This means that you would not qualify for workers' compensation insurance. 

Being told that your injury is not attributed to your job can happen when an injury has happened over time. For example, if you are experiencing back pain due to your job that builds up over time, there is not a single incident that can be the clear cause of your pain. The same can be said of other symptoms, like carpal tunnel, which don't have a single cause that you can pinpoint.

The Employer Wasn't Notified In Time

You may have a serious injury that left you hospitalized for a long time. Unfortunately, there are laws that you must follow in regard to how soon you need to formally notify your employer of the injury. If you did not notify them in the proper amount of time, you could run into a problem where your claim is denied. Even though the cause of the injury was clear and can be attributed to your job, you may be fighting for workers' compensation based on a technicality. This is definitely a situation where you want to bring in a workers compensation lawyer to help fight on your behalf because you missed a simple deadline. 

You Were Fired Or Quit After The Accident

Workers' compensation only applies to employees that are working with the same employer that the accident happened with. Things become complicated if you were injured, but then you ended up leaving the employer by being fired or quitting your job. This will cause a big problem when filing for workers' compensation, since you are not technically an employee at the time of your filing

It is possible that you were fired to prevent you from filing a claim, or that you quit due to unsafe working conditions. If this applies to you, a lawyer can help you get the compensation you deserve so that you do not have to continue working in an unsafe environment.