Few things are more frustrating than not being able to do what you love the most.
For workers who are injured on the job, they can find themselves unable to enjoy their favorite activities. For some this means no longer being able to go water skiing with friends in the summer. For others a work injury means that they are no longer able to practice football drills with their sons. Others find themselves unable to enjoy long weekends hiking on their favorite trails. If you have been injured at work, it is essential to get the help that you need for the recovery and the rehabilitation, but it is also important to get the compensation that you deserve for a future life unable to do what you love the most.
Worker Compensation Lawyers May be Able to Help Families Get the Compensation That They Deserve
Work accidents place both the injured employee and family in precarious situations. While some accidents leave workers thankful that they were not injured worse, others find themselves completely unable to continue working or even do the things that they have always loved most about life. If you or someone you love has been injured in a work place accident, it is important to get the legal assistance you need to make sure that you are properly compensated. And while tallying up the expected costs for hospital bills and rehabilitation charges is difficult enough, putting a price tag on the loss of a future doing your favorite activities like hiking and playing football with a son can seem nearly impossible.
Fortunately, worker compensation lawyers understand how to put aside the emotional baggage of being thankful for what you have and look down the road to anticipate the financial price tag of your new reality. Researching settlements in past cases with similar circumstances, for example, can help a worker compensation lawyer understand the value of a variety of situations. Workers compensation attorneys can serve as a go between for the employer lawyers who are looking out for the best interest of the company and the actual needs and of the injured worker.
Understanding the Basics of Workers Compensation Benefits Can be Confusing
Initially, workers’ compensation will pay 100% of medical costs for injured workers, as well as pas cash benefits for lost work time after a three to seven day waiting period. Predicting the future realities of a work place injury, however, becomes complicated. Company provided doctor and therapists can lead an injured worker to believe that his or her recovery may be easier than it really is. On the other hand, the worker may be dealing with unusual amounts of stress, pain, and medications that may make processing the offers of help from a company lawyer difficult to evaluate. Contacting and working with a worker compensation lawyer can provide the balance needed to even the negotiations.
Just as it is sometimes difficult to do business with a friend, it is sometimes difficult to negotiate with a company that has been an important part of your life. Good intentions on the part of your boss, for instance, will not help compensate you for years of pain and suffering caused by a workplace accident. Instead, tangible information about what the future costs of recovery might be will help you understand the benefits that you should be asking for.
In the year 2011, benefit payments under workers compensation programs totaled $60.2 billion. This number represents a 3.4% increase from the revised 2010 benefit figure of $58.2 billion. Staggering numbers when they are presented as a nation wide total, but numbers that may or may not represent the best settlement for you if you do not seek legal advice after a workplace injury.
Broken down, wages and salaries are about 70% of compensation costs. Other benefits make up the remaining 30% of the compensation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2010 National Compensation Survey, America’s workers compensation costs represented only 1.6% of employer spending overall. Realizing the number of workers who are injured everyday on the job, it is easy to wonder if these compensation numbers are high enough.