Workers Compensation Benefits: Qualifying Injuries And Illnesses

When it comes to filing workers compensation claims, having an attorney to assist you throughout the process is truly invaluable. However, before you even get to that stage of the process, you need to understand what kinds of injuries and illnesses qualify for workers compensation benefits. This article outlines the major provisions that govern workers compensation benefits and the illness and injuries that qualify for receiving them.

Injuries Must Be Work Related 

Any injury that you sustain in the course of performing job related duties qualifies for workers compensation benefits. In fact, if you sustained an injury while on the job, or anywhere where you were engaged in employment-related tasks, then it is highly likely your injury will qualify for workers compensation benefits. This is one of the widest scopes of coverage in the entirety of law, and it encompasses everything from car accidents you were involved in while en route to a company meeting or while running company-related errands, as well as slips, trips and falls that occurred either at work, or virtually any other place where you might have been engaged in the duties of your occupation. Still, you want an attorney present to ensure that erroneous paperwork or other filings don't compromise your rights to benefits.

It Doesn't Matter If You're At Fault

Workers compensation is available to those who were injured or became ill even as a result of their own negligence or incompetence. Whether you were texting while walking down a flight of stairs or you tripped while running with a pair of scissors in each hand, the breadth of workers compensation coverage is extremely comprehensive. The only provision for having your injury or illness denied workers compensation benefits is when your behavior was excessively negligent. 

For instance, if you were high on cocaine and were injured in an accident while driving a fork lift through the building, your employer probably won't be liable for workers compensation benefits. Still, if you were the victim of a freak accident, such as being struck by a falling object, you will more then likely receive workers compensation benefits regardless of whether you were sober at the time of the incident. Enlisting the assistance of an attorney may be necessary to see that the state of your sobriety, sober or otherwise, doesn't jeopardize your claim to workers compensation benefits.

A Word On Illness

Unlike injuries, which are essentially always covered by workers compensation, you must be able to clearly prove that an illness was the direct result of work-related conditions or duties. This can be much more difficult since illnesses might occur internally weeks or even months before they manifest physically. In these situations, it is imperative that you hire a workers compensation attorney like one from Law Offices Jonathan Teperson to ensure your illness is demonstrably linked to the conditions or duties of your occupation.

Ultimately, having a workers compensation attorney to assist you during the process of obtaining benefits provides you an immeasurable advantage and helps ensure you're awarded the benefits you deserve.