Do you feel that you don’t have any workers’ compensation rights? As workers’ compensation lawyers, we see this all the time. People think that because they’re on the job, they aren’t really entitled to workers’ comp. Sure, they’ve heard of it, but they think it’s something that’s for other people. Or alternately, they believe workers’ comp is something that, should they file for it after being hurt, they’ll be fired by their employers for. Neither is true. At the ODG Law Group, a workers’ compensation attorney in Los Angeles can explain your rights to you, helping you to make the best decision for you.
Workers’ Compensation Attorney in Los Angeles Advice
It’s critically important that workers are aware of their rights at the workplace. Workers’ compensation isn’t something that was made eighty years ago and has no bearing on the modern day: workers’ comp is something that can help you to get what you deserve when you’re injured at work. These workers’ comp laws are there to protect you. When you’re hurt at work, knowing your rights and utilizing them is important. It’s important not just for you, but for the people in your life that care about you, too. Workers’ compensation rights are rights for all workers.
Knowing your rights is so important because it can help you to recover from an injury, both physically and financially. For example, a worker who hurts their foot in an accident at work but doesn’t know their rights might make poor decisions that could lead to awful outcomes. Maybe this worker hurt their foot and then, instead of filing for workers’ comp, didn’t go to the doctor. Perhaps they just tried to “tough it out” so that they could keep working and making money for their family. Unfortunately, over time, the foot injury could get even worse, making it impossible to do their job.
To change the above example a little bit, maybe that worker did go to the doctor. Perhaps the doctor prescribed some expensive medications and treatments that absolutely would allow the injured worker’s foot to heal entirely. The worker took the medicines and the treatments. That allowed them to return to work and life, enjoying both at the same capacity they did before the accident. Of course, in this hypothetical, the worker still didn’t know about their workers’ compensation rights. They had no idea that they could receive compensation, or maybe they just flat out didn’t believe it.
So, this injured worker didn’t try to get workers’ compensation to pay for those expensive medicines and treatments. Now, the worker is barely getting by financially and has to cut back the family budget significantly. Perhaps the worker is even doing everything they can to make up for the lost income, up to and including asking for overtime and more work, which can leave them further exposed to injury, and thus perpetuating the cycle. This is an extreme example, but unfortunately this kind of thing happens much more often than people think.
Know Your Workers’ Comp Rights
Had the hypothetical injured worker known about their workers’ compensation rights, they could’ve gotten compensation for their medical bills. They could have gotten the workers’ comp that would’ve paid for that, so that they didn’t have to. Then, they could’ve allowed themselves to fully heal from everything they’ve been through without having to push their body even further beyond its own limits. In the end, remember: workers’ compensation is there to protect you.
In fact, when it comes to workers’ compensation and medical care, something to keep in mind: your employers have to provide medical care if you’re injured on the job. For many people, that can be hard to believe, so to say again: when you are injured on the job (regardless of it’s in the office, out in the field or anywhere else) your employer must provide medical care. This is one of your core rights as an employee. If you have any questions about whether you qualify, we’re always happy to talk about your rights.
It’s important to keep in mind that you’re entitled to that medical care even if you have to miss time from work. Should you suffer some kind of injury on the job, your employer has to give you medical care even if it’s going to sideline you for an extended period of time. By that same token, your employer has to provide medical care even if you don’t miss time from work, too. Whether or not you miss time from work is absolutely irrelevant to the point that your employer has to provide medical care if you’ve been injured on the job.
Modern Workers’ Comp for Modern Economy
Now, in our modern day, “gig economy,” many workers are temps or part time employees. Many of us go from one job to the next, always on the go, trying to find a way forward. You may still be eligible for benefits in these circumstances. You can get workers’ comp if you’re only part time, or if you’re only there on a temp basis. Workers’ comp isn’t just reserved for the everyday, full time employees. Again, this is the kind of thing you want to remember, so that you file for workers’ comp when you’re hurt even if you are part time. Again, should you have any questions about whether you qualify; a professional here at the ODG Law Group is always looking forward to your call.
Of course, every case is different. No two work related injuries are the same. Our experienced lawyers can sit down with you and go over your case, so as to figure out the best way forward for you to get what you deserve.
Another common misconception we see about workers’ comp all the time is that “someone else had to be at fault for the injury.” There’s an idea floating around that if the employee were even the tiniest bit responsible (in any fashion whatsoever) for their work related injury, they’re ineligible for workers’ comp. Again, this isn’t true. You can receive workers’ comp benefits no matter who was at fault for your injury. So that way, you don’t have to go over and over in your head who is responsible for what happened in your injury. Or alternately, you don’t have to be afraid that some lawyer is going to twist your work related injury so that it’s all your fault and you deserve no workers’ comp.
Compensation You Deserve
The world doesn’t work like that. You can deserve workers’ comp if you suffer a work related injury, full stop. You may even be eligible for workers’ comp if you’re an undocumented worker. You don’t even have to be a legal US resident. These are the kinds of things that most people are unaware of, just how much California workers’ comp laws can cover. So, the more you know about these laws, the better decisions you can make for yourself and the others in your life, should you suffer an injury at work.
There’s nothing easy about an injury at work. It can make everything in your life that much more difficult. That being said, you owe it to yourself to make the workers’ comp process on yourself as easy as possible. Know your rights. For more information or a free consultation, head to our site or give us a call at (818) 975-3080.
