If you are injured on the job or become ill due to conditions at work, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Most employers are required by law to provide workers’ compensation insurance to their employees to help cover the costs of medical treatment, prescriptions, rehabilitation, and lost wages due to a work-related injury. Firing an employee for filing a claim or otherwise discouraging an employee from filing a claim is illegal.
Filing a workers’ compensation claim is not the same as suing your employer. Unlike a personal injury lawsuit, you are not required to prove negligence, only that your injury was acquired on the job. If you become injured on the job, you must inform your employer and your employer’s insurer of your injury in a timely manner. Once a claim has been accepted you have three additional years in which to assert a claim for additional medical benefits, or one year if you do not.
Be prepared to explain how the injury occurred, provide the date and time of day of the injury, and the names of any witnesses. In non-emergency situations, you may be required to submit to an evaluation for the injury from a doctor of your employer’s choice.
What We Can Do to Help
Most workers’ compensation claims are denied because the employer is put on notice of the injury too late or without sufficient information, but hiring an attorney to help with your workers’ compensation claim can help you maximize your chances of approval. When you work with the Louisiana workers’ compensation attorneys at Dudley DeBosier, we’ll do everything we can to ensure your claim is approved. This includes completing all necessary paperwork, meeting all deadlines, compiling evidence to support your claim, and calculating your lost wage claim and level of disability.
Your employer may try to dispute your version of events or claim your injury was due to a pre-existing condition. If you choose us to handle your claim, we’ll do everything we can to protect your rights. If your claim is denied, our attorneys can work to resolve your case through mediation or bring it before a workers’ compensation judge in an official court hearing.
After an On-the-Job Injury, Call Dudley DeBosier!
If you or someone you love was injured or became disabled while on the job, the workers’ compensation attorneys at Dudley DeBosier are ready to help you get the benefits you deserve. Contact us today for a free case review.