When you’re injured at work, your first priority should be receiving medical attention, but those bills are going to start adding up, which is why your second concern will probably be financial. Luckily, many workplace accidents qualify for workers’ compensation. Not sure what that entails? The following are answers to four questions commonly asked about workers’ compensation.
How Long Do I Have to Wait?
After you are injured, your disability must last at least seven days (this includes weekends) before you are able to collect workers’ compensation. If you miss work for less than seven days, you probably won’t receive disability benefits, though there could be some exceptions. So on day eight, you would receive a benefit, and for every day after. When you hit day 14, you would also be eligible for retroactive payments for those first seven days.
Should the Dates Be Consecutive?
Sometimes your injuries allow you to work for a shortened period of time, such as three days on and two days off or another similar schedule to that. The 14 days you would need to wait for retroactive payments do not need to be consecutive. As soon as you accumulate 14 missed days of work, you would be eligible. This might mean you’d actually wait a few weeks longer, but you would still be able to receive it.
Can I Receive Pain and Suffering Compensation?
Unfortunately under workers’ comp, you can’t recover pain and suffering. You can recover medical expenses, lost wages, and disfigurement. If a loved one dies as a result of a workplace accident, you can also recover death benefits and funeral costs.
Can I Sue Someone If I Receive Workers’ Comp?
It depends on who you’re planning to sue. If you receive workers’ comp after a workplace injury, you cannot sue your employer to try to recover pain and suffering, for example. You could sue a parts manufacturer, however, if a machine you were working on malfunctioned due to a bad part. Your lawyer can help you determine if there’s a third-party individual or entity that could be liable for your injuries.
Get Your Questions Answered By an Attorney
Chances are you have a lot more questions than these. If you’re facing a workers’ compensation claim, it might benefit you to get answers from the professionals. Contact a workers’ compensation lawyer to get your questions answered and to learn more about how you can gain more compensation.