If you sustain an injury on the job, there are several avenues available to you for compensation. However, you must be aware of what applies to you and what does not. Many workers may be eligible for workers’ compensation, disability benefits or both.
What you hold eligibility for depends on many factors. According to FindLaw, generally, you have eligibility for workers’ compensation until your injury turns into a permanent disability.
The difference between the two
Workers’ compensation acts as an alternative to suing your employer, should you sustain an injury at the job site. All companies in Illinois must hold workers’ compensation insurance for this purpose. Workers’ compensation helps make up for lost income through the employer.
State disability benefits also help to make up lost income, but your employer does not pay for these. The government pays for these, once you prove that your disability will prevent you from working for more than a year.
How can I get both?
There are certain situations where you may have eligibility for both workers’ compensation and disability benefits. You must expect to have a disability for at least a year and a day in order to have eligibility for disability benefits or have a terminal illness. You also must have paid into the Social Security disability system enough to have these benefits.
Depending on the amount of workers’ compensation your employer gives you, though, it is possible that this can reduce the number of disability benefits.
Understanding what your injury entitles you to is paramount when going through both the workers’ compensation and the disability benefits process. You may have access to more compensation than you think.
