It is important for you to know your rights under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law. The following has been prepared by the lawyers at Urban & Burt, Ltd. to provide you with answers to frequently asked questions about workers’ compensation laws and your rights for on-the-job injuries. If you are injured while at work, your case requires the skill of an attorney who is well-versed in the workers’ compensation law. The attorneys at Urban & Burt, Ltd. do concentrate in workers’ compensation law, and can properly investigate the facts surrounding your injury and make certain that you receive fair treatment from your employer’s insurance company. The following is not intended as legal advice, but is a guide for your reference to frequently asked questions. Please click on a question which may answer a concern that you may have.
- What Is Workers’ Compensation?
- Am I Covered By Workers’ Compensation Only When I Am Actually Doing My Job?
- How Must I Tell My Employer About My Work Injury?
- What Benefits Will I Receive Under Workers’ Compensation?
- What If Someone Dies As The Result Of A Work Accident Or Injury?
- What If I Have A Pre-Existing Condition That Is Aggravated By Work?
- What If My Injury Is Not From A Specific Accident, But From Continually Doing Some Activity At Work Until My Body Simply Gives Out?
- Isn’t Making A Workers’ Compensation Claim Suing My Employer?
- Can I Be Fired For Making A Workers’ Compensation Claim?
- What if Another Party Was at Fault In My Accident?
- I’ve Been Injured At Work And I’m Not Receiving Any Money. What Should I Do?
- Summary
What Is Workers’ Compensation?
Workers’ Compensation is an Illinois law that gives workers certain benefits if they are injured in a job-related accident or contract a disease from their job, such as black lung disease.
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Am I Covered By Workers’ Compensation Only When I Am Actually Doing My Job?
No, you are covered any time you are doing something that benefits your employer. For example, if your employer sends you to do a personal errand for him and you are injured in a car accident – you are covered. People coming to work only to pick up their paychecks while on strike were found to be covered under workers’ compensation if they were injured at that time. You need a lawyer knowledgeable in the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law to analyze your case.
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How Must I Tell My Employer About My Work Injury?
You may tell your employer in writing or orally – in person or by telephone. If you are unable to personally give your employer notice of the injury, your spouse or a friend may give notice for you, but you must give notice within 45 days of your injury or from the time you realized your disease was caused by your work.
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What Benefits Will I Receive Under Worker’s Compensation?
- Medical – You are entitled to receive, at NO cost to you, first aid treatment, ambulance servicing, and medical, hospital, and rehabilitation treatment needed to cure or treat your injury or disease. Temporary Total Disability Payments – While you are under medical care and a doctor recommends that you not work while you are recovering, you are entitled to receive 2/3 of your regular paycheck, subject to certain limits. There is no time limit that you can receive these payments.
- Permanent Disability or Disfigurement – If your accident results in permanent disability or scarring, you are entitled to payment for this disability or scarring based upon 60% of your weekly paycheck and certain guidelines in the law.
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What If Someone Dies As The Result Of A Work Accident Or Injury?
If a work accident results in death of the worker, his or her spouse and children are entitled to payments. Children are paid until 18, or 25 if in school full-time. Also, there are provisions if a child is physically or mentally incapacitated.
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What If I Have A Pre-Existing Condition That Is Aggravated By Work?
This is fully covered by workers’ compensation as if the pre-existing condition was not there.
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What If My Injury Is Not from A Specific Accident, But From Continually Doing Some Activity At Work Until My Body Simply Gives Out?
This is called repetitive trauma and is covered by workers’ compensation with all of the same benefits, as long as your doctor says that work activities caused or contributed to your problem.
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Isn’t Making A Worker’s Compensation Claim Suing My Employer?
No. It is more like making an insurance claim. Normally, the employer is hardly involved once his compensation insurance takes over the claim.
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Can I Be Fired For Making A Workers’ Compensation Claim?
No! It is against the law for an employer to fire, harass, or discriminate against an employee for making a compensation claim. If they do fire you, the employer can be sued in court for damages.
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What If Another Party Was At Fault In My Accident?
The attorneys at Urban & Burt, Ltd. will investigate the facts and circumstances of your injury and, if warranted under the Illinois law, will not only file a claim for workers’ compensation, but also can file a lawsuit against the other responsible parties. For example, if you are injured while driving a truck for your employer and the truck is struck by another vehicle, Urban & Burt, Ltd.will file not only your workers’ compensation claim, but also can file a lawsuit against the other driver for your injury.
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I’ve Been Injured At Work And I’m Not receiving Any Money. What Should I Do?
Contact the attorneys at Urban & Burt, Ltd. We will immediately file your workers’ compensation claim and make demand upon your employer’s insurance company to pay you temporary payments. If the insurance company refuses, the law provides you with the right to an immediate hearing.
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Summary
This document is a brief discussion of your rights under the Workers’ Compensation Law of the State of Illinois. There are many other aspects of the workers’ compensation law that are not covered on this page, such as: What happens if you can’t go back to work at all or if you go back but, because of the injury, are making substantially less money? Or what happens if I need to be retrained to a new job? You have additional rights in these situations and the attorneys at Urban & Burt, Ltd. will be glad to discuss them with you at a personal conference.
As soon as you are hurt or find out that a disease arises from your job, you should contact Urban & Burt, Ltd. immediately so that we can protect your rights and maximize your benefits. As with most laws, there is interpretation and technicalities that only an experienced attorney who concentrates in that area of the law can know. To make sure that you are being treated fairly and properly, contact us so we may help you and your family obtain all the benefits to which you are entitled.
