A serious workplace injury can happen to any Illinois worker. However, some jobs are more dangerous than others. At dangerous jobs — like construction sites for example — a worker has a higher chance of falling many stories, getting injured by a piece of machinery or getting struck by a tractor, bulldozer or crane.
If anybody knows the full scope of injuries that Illinois workers are at risk of suffering, it’s a workers’ compensation lawyer. A workers’ compensation lawyer is trained to look closely at an injured employees’ injuries — and the circumstances of those injuries — to develop the most appropriate strategy to seek the highest level of compensation benefits available.
As for pursuable benefits, there are four main categories that a worker could qualify for depending on his or her circumstances. They are:
— Medical benefits: These benefits relate to financial compensation for medical treatments to relieve symptoms or cure a work-related injury, including payment of all medical bills, medication costs and even compensation for mileage expenses to the medical provider.
— Temporary disability: These benefits seek to compensate a worker for wages lost due to an inability to work. Some employees need to spend time away from work while recovering from their injuries. These benefits typically compensate an employee for two-thirds his or her standard rate of pay. Work comp benefits are not subject to taxation, so wage replacement payments will often come close to a workers’ normal take-home pay.
— Permanent disability: When a worker will never be able to do his or her job again as a result of permanent injuries, it may be possible to receive a permanent disability award. In this case, the worker may be able to receive different levels of compensation depending on the extent and nature of his or her permanent injuries.
— Vocational rehab: This benefit seeks to provide a worker with help finding new employment after a serious or permanent injury. This assistance may include partial wage-replacement benefits and training for a new kind of job.
Injured Illinois workers will usually be covered by workers’ compensation insurance. As such, depending on the nature of the workplace injury, an Illinois worker may be able to qualify for some or several of the above-referenced benefits.
Source: FindLaw, “Construction accidents and workers’ compensation,” accessed Feb. 16, 2017
