Category: Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

The common perception is the employer is only liable for their employees’ safety during work hours –that is not the case. In order to reward employees or take a break from work, companies organize picnics and parties for their employees after work hours. While these events and picnics play a significant role in increasing employee motivation, resulting in increased productivity and loyalty, these events could also increase the liability of the employer. According to workers’ compensation lawyers, the employer can be held responsible for any injuries or harassment faced by an employee at such events and parties.

How can an employer be held liable for any injuries at an after work event?

While these company parties and gatherings are held after work hours, the court finds them as work as attendance is compulsory. Although it may not be overtly mandatory for all employees to attend such events, the growth and progress of their career are attached to their attendance making it compulsory for them to attend. Using this rationale, the courts deem such events to be a part of working hours, therefore any injuries sustained by the employees are to be compensated by the employer.

In order to establish liability on an employer, you must be able to prove that the event was organized by the company. Furthermore, it is important to prove that the negligence of the company caused the injury to you or your friend. The most common form of incidents that take place at company organized events are sexual harassment and drunken brawls between intoxicated employees.

How can a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer help you?

In most cases, the employer would deny liability by stating that the incident or injury was sustained after work hours, therefore, he or she cannot be held responsible. Acquiring the service of an experienced Workers’ Compensation lawyer might help you change his mind or take the matter to the court. Using their knowledge and vast experience, a workers’ compensation lawyer can help you get rightful and reasonable compensation for the physical, emotional and financial loss you may have suffered.

The law provides comprehensive rights and protection to the employees from all kinds of workplace related incidents. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, contact The Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. today at 847-395-2200 to speak with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer on this topic.

Workers are the lifeline of any organization and play an integral role in running the economy of any country. In order to protect the rights and lives of millions of workers working in the United States, both federal and state governments set policies which protect workers’ rights. According to a report, almost 3 million workplace non-fatal injuries and ailments were reported while around 5000 workers lost their lives in just one year. While the government strives to ensure all employees are provided safe and secure work environments, workers continue to suffer injuries and even face death due to unsafe working conditions. Fortunately, the workers can file a workers’ compensation claim to get compensated for their losses and medical expenses.

What is Workers’ Compensation?

At its core, workers’ compensation is the type of insurance which offers medical coverage and wage replacements to workers who get injured while they were employed. There are certain prerequisites you have to meet in order to be eligible for workers’ compensation. In Illinois, like many other states, a worker with an illness or injury that is work-related is entitled to receive benefits under workers’ compensation which, unlike their wages, are not taxable.

Eligibility Criteria

The state law comprehensively covers all the injuries which can be caused entirely or partially by the worker’s job. It also takes into account and covers all pre-existing medical conditions which can be potentially exacerbated by working conditions and the nature of the employee’s job. Even some work-related injuries sustained outside the workplace are covered by the aforementioned law. However, there are certain exceptions in which an employee cannot be eligible for workers’ compensation which include:

• Injuries sustained by the employee while committing a grievous crime
• Injuries sustained by the employee while he or she wasn’t at work
• Self-inflicted injuries
• Injuries sustained when the worker’s conduct violated the policies set by the employer

How can you seek workers’ compensation from your employer?

In order to get workers’ compensation, you must be able to demonstrate that you are eligible for it according to the criteria set by Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Most employees seek the guidance of an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer to substantiate their claim. It is imperative to file your claim as soon as possible as there is a statute of limitation, which means you cannot file a claim after 3 years.

For more information on this subject or to schedule a free consultation, contact The Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. today at 847-395-2200 to speak with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.

If you work in a tough environment and are often exposed to risky elements, you may suffer a workplace injury. Such an injury means that you lose significant time on the job, need expensive medical treatments, and may become unable to perform to your maximum capacity. What you need to obtain workers’ compensation for all your expenses and mental stress. Here, we first describe the law in Illinois and how hiring a workers’ compensation lawyer can help you fight for the best compensation:

The Illinois Law

The Law No. 820 ILCS 305/1 describes the workers’ compensation act in Illinois. It describes that any corporation, or business owner is responsible for paying for their employees in a situation where compensation may apply. In fact, the business must pay compensation for workers who may come under the contractors on a project, although it can later recover the payment from the relevant contractor. If a worker is being loaned out to another company, then its employer is still liable for paying compensation benefits and payments if the borrowing company does not pay the relevant monetary dues. The workers’ compensation act is valid if the contract was established within the state of Illinois, regardless of the place of work.

An employee sustaining injuries at work must show that they occurred during their employment. An employer who pays an injured employee under the details of this act can remain excused from other trials, if the employee is not contesting the payments. A contest from the employee will be resolved by a commission or an arbitrator whose decision will be final in this regard. The employer cannot present a defense that the injury was caused by a co-worker as the prima facie of providing a safe environment lies on the employer.

Hiring Legal Help

The law in Illinois is detailed but it can be hard for a normal person to understand whether they are receiving the best compensation for injuries sustained at their job. Hiring a workers’ compensation attorney ensures that you are covered by the relevant part of the Illinois laws and can receive maximum compensation that you need for providing these benefits:

Relaxed

As a worker, you can relax once you have hired a workers’ compensation lawyer who will fight hard on your behalf. You can focus on recovering from the injury that you sustained and work to get out of the mental trauma that you may have faced due to a workplace injury.

Monetary Benefit

A workers’ compensation lawyer is fully aware of the state laws that apply to your workplace injury. They discuss the problem with your employer to make sure that you receive the ideal monetary benefits for your loss of work. You can also receive the best compensation for obtaining medical help and ensuring that you fully recover to once again at your optimum capacity.

No Friction

Hiring an attorney to represent your case means that you do not personally create any friction between yourself and the management of your company. The problem is often resolved through discussions performed by lawyers from both sides, giving you a great chance to avoid friction in your workplace.

Contact the Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. at (847) 395-2200 or online today to schedule your initial consultation.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition experienced by individuals who have witnessed a traumatic event. If such an event has occurred at your workplace while performing your job duties, you may receive workers’ compensation benefits to cover for your PTSD condition.

It is essential that you immediately seek medical attention if you think you might have PTSD symptoms. Such a mental health condition should not be taken lightly, because it can as serious as a physical injury, and it should be addressed in a timely manner. If you wait for the symptoms of anxiety and stress to become more apparent or worse, your treatment will probably take longer, and it may also become difficult for you to file for a workers’ compensation claim.

Situations Causing PTSD at Work

There are several professions where individuals are exposed to events on a daily basis that can leave traumatic effects on the brain, such as emergency medical technicians, firefighters, police officers, and several others. Aside from these, some examples of situations where employees can develop PTSD are:

• A factory employee witnessed their colleague getting a serious injury at the workplace.
• A teacher experienced a school shooting incident.
• A construction worker saw another working dying in a gruesome way.

Such situations and many others can result in symptoms of PTSD, which may affect their performance at the workplace, as well as their personal life. In some cases, symptoms don’t surface until weeks or months after the traumatic event. Unfortunately, more than a quarter of the PTSD cases involve delayed expression of symptoms, and winning the workers’ compensation claims in such cases can be difficult.

The Symptoms of PTSD

Since every person responds to a traumatic situation differently, post-traumatic stress disorder may yield a wide variety of symptoms, which may vary from situation to situation. The following are some common mental or emotional symptoms found in the victims of PTSD:

• Anxiety
• Being easily startled
• Depression
• Emotional detachment
• Flashbacks of the traumatic event
• Irritability and anger
• Concentration and memory problems
• Nightmares
• Obsessive compulsive behavior
• Violent or self-destructive behavior

Aside from the psychological effects, some people also suffer from physical symptoms, including:

• Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Heart attacks
• Ulcers
• Vomiting

Regardless of the severity of PTSD, workers’ compensation laws allow you to receive certain benefits. However, in cases where the impact of PTSD is detrimental and more severe, you may be eligible to receive more benefits.

Filing a Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits

If you have witnessed a traumatic event at your workplace and think you are experiencing some of the above symptoms, you should talk to your employer and doctor immediately. You need to act promptly because there are strict deadlines for reporting work-related conditions, and delaying can jeopardize your right to receive workers’ compensation benefits. Your employer will provide you with forms to file for workers’ compensation claim after consulting your situation with the doctor.

Under Illinois law, you are eligible for getting workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD experienced from a workplace accident. If your employer is depriving you of your rights, you should talk to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to file your claim and fight on your behalf. Contact the Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. at (847) 395-2200 or online today to schedule your initial consultation.

While it is common for employees to file claims for their workers’ compensation benefits for work-related injuries and accidents, claims pertaining to occupation diseases are rare, and often complicated in nature. When employees are diagnosed with an occupational disease, they have the right to claim workers’ compensation benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act. However, identifying and proving occupational diseases that they are work-related is mostly very difficult.

What are Occupational Diseases?

These are the diseases caused due to exposure to excessive heat, noise, chemicals, radiation, and other hazardous environmental conditions. Most people have the impression that occupational diseases only refer to conditions like lung cancer and mesothelioma, but loss of hearing or eyesight also qualify. It also includes any existing disease aggravated because of poor work environment during the course of employment.

The reason why getting compensation for occupational diseases is difficult because many other causes can result in similar conditions, such as exposure to adverse external environment and personal habits.

Identifying Occupation Diseases and their Origins

There are several lines of work in which certain occupational diseases have a heightened rate of contraction as compared to the general population. For example, EMTs, paramedics, and firefighters work in environments which expose them to a higher risk of certain ailments, including illnesses caused by blood-borne pathogens, hypertension, and vascular disease. When employees catch such diseases, it is assumed they are caused because of the worker’s occupation. In such a case, the employer is burdened with the responsibility of proving that the worker could have caught the disease because of other reasons.

In the case of occupations where contracting certain diseases is not established, the employee has to prove that the disease is work-related. To do this, it is essential for an employee to get professional help of a workers’ compensation attorney. This is because they will have to document work environment conditions and get evaluations from medical practitioners to prove the job-related activities caused the disease. Since a majority of occupation disease develop over time, collecting evidence and reporting the disease within the statute of limitations is sometimes not possible.

Statute of Limitations for Occupational Diseases

As soon as the employee becomes aware of the occupation disease, they must notify their employer right away. The statute of limitations for filing an occupation disease claim is two years. This period starts from the day when the employee is diagnosed with the disease and a medical practitioner issues a written notice or a medical record of the disease’s existence.

In case of disablement, the employee must contract the disability within two years of last exposure to the workplace hazard. If an employee develops diseases related to asbestos or berylliosis, the statute of limitations extends to three years. For those exposed to radiation, they have 25 years to file a claim for their occupational disease.

If you have been diagnosed with an occupational disease, you need to act immediately before the statute of limitations expires for filing a case against your employer. Contact the Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. at (847) 395-2200 or online today to schedule a consultation.

In Illinois, the law requires every employer to carry workers’ compensation, and provide its benefits when a worker is injured while performing job-related tasks. While not all employers have ill intent, there have been countless cases where employers, along with their insurers, took full advantage of the Workers’ Compensation Act to deny the workers of their rightful compensation and save money.

A worker is eligible to receive workers’ comp benefits if they are:

• An employee of a company who has workers’ comp insurance.
• Injured while performing job-related tasks even when they are not within company’s premises.

Here we have compiled all the common tricks that employers use to avoid paying workers’ compensation benefits to their employees.

Advising the Employee to See a Company Doctor

If the doctor or physician evaluating your injuries is associated with your company, there is a high chance that they might not accurately diagnose and document your condition. The doctor’s statement holds a lot of significance and may prevent you from getting the compensation benefits you deserve. This is why you should always get a second opinion from an independent doctor.

Apart from this, employers sometimes recommend the injured worker to see a physician with whom they have a pre-existing relationship. The worker thinks that they will get an unbiased diagnosis of their condition; however, in reality, they are falling into their employer’s trap.

Out of Context Recorded Statements

Another common tactic is that the workers’ compensation claims adjuster tries to get the injured worker’s statement, while they are still in the hospital. They ask tricky questions when the claimant is under the influence of drugs or not in a correct state of mind to lessen the claim amount. Questions and agreeing to statements such as, “You had been injured previously and suffered from more pain than you are experience from this injury, correct?”, “You were diagnosed with body pain (arm pain, lower back pain, neck pain, etc.) before the injury, right?”, and others can have a significant effect on your claim.

The Three-Day Rule

For an employee to receive workers’ compensation benefits for missed work wages due to a workplace injury, they must skip work for three consecutive days. Most employees are unaware of this rule and their employers full take advantage of it. They ask the injured employee to continue coming to work and assign them light duty work so that they don’t have to pay them for lost income for a long term.

Insurers Voluntarily Paying the Benefits

For an injured worker, receiving benefits without having to file a claim won’t seem like a problem at all. However, this is another trick that insurance adjusters use to reduce the period of workers’ comp benefits. If the injured worker doesn’t file the claim using the right form, they will eventually stop getting the benefits after the time runs out, which according to the statute of limitations is one year.

If you think that your employer has used one of these tricks to deny your right to workers’ compensation, you should hire a reliable workers’ compensation attorney to fight your case. Contact The Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. at (847) 395-2200 or online to schedule your initial legal consultation and discuss the specifics of your case.

 

 

Illinois legislators recently met with employer groups who have been trying to catch the ears of lawmakers for years in attempts to lessen their burden under the state’s workers’ compensation system. These employers argue that they only wish to change Illinois law to mirror the laws in neighboring states, and claim that the burden they face is too great for them to be competitive. Workers need to pay attention to these “conversations” even if these employers do not yet have the political might to effect the changes they are seeking. Discussions over weakening protections for employees, especially when they are the most vulnerable (i.e. while recovering from an injury), should be met with protest as these employers would seek to join a “race to the bottom” with regard to employee protections.

Illinois law versus Indiana

Some individuals argue that the workers’ compensation laws of “neighboring states” are more favorable to business growth and opportunity and therefore are better than the laws of Illinois. This argument is a red herring as it does not take into account the myriad other laws that affect employers and business growth in the state. For example, arguing that workers’ compensation is more expensive in Illinois, and therefore mandates a law change, does not take into account the basic calculation that drives workers’ compensation benefits the average weekly wage. Employees in Illinois are lucky to have employers who value their work, and pay them a fair wage to do it. Employees in neighboring states such as Indiana are not so lucky, and are paid almost 30% less than Illinois workers. When calculating an individual’s average weekly wage in Illinois, of course the amount will be slightly higher than that same worker in Indiana. However, that is only due to the fact that Illinois businesses and lawmakers have decided to value employees more than their neighbor to the east.

“Costs” of doing business

What many detractors of the current workers’ compensation system in Illinois also fail to articulate is that business is booming in Illinois. According to the most recent revenue numbers, Illinois’ unemployment rate is steadily decreasing and the state’s sales and use tax numbers are seeing a remarkably steady increase. What this means is that more people are working and spending their hard earned money in the state. How this can be bad for business is difficult to understand. Further, taking aim at the workers’ compensation system in Illinois is flawed, as there are numerous other regulations in the state that have a much larger effect on corporate profits. In fact, according to a CNBC ranking, the state is currently suffering from “a battered balance sheet and burdensome regulations.” Merely because an employer is suffering along with the state does not mean that it should attack its employees’ hard earned benefits.

Many people may not realize that the workers’ compensation systems around the country were created in order to assist injured workers in getting back to work as quickly as possible. Cutting the available benefits to these workers will only serve to delay their recovery and therefore, delay their ability to return to work. If you have been injured at work and need help getting back on the road to recovery, call the experienced attorneys at the office of Robert T. Edens, P.C today. We can explain Illinois workers’ compensation laws and help you obtain the benefits you need to get back on your feet.