If you are injured while on duty or you develop illnesses due to the kind of working environment you work in, the law legitimizes your claim for compensation. Therefore, workers’ compensation is a type of benefit that has been designed to help people such as these to get compensated. Here are some of the claims that WCB coverage can compensate:
Medical and Treatment Expenses: These costs include emergency medical care, doctor’s consultation fees, follow-up fees, physical rehabilitation, and transport costs o and from a medical facility during the period of treatment.
Time off work for Recovery: It is usually calculated as the employee’s average weekly income. This payment may not extend beyond two years.
Permanent disability: Some work-related injuries can lead to long-term or even permanent impairment that can deny a worker the physical or mental ability to perform certain duties. It is advisable not to ignore any minor injury that may impede your normal working, as this may qualify you for permanent disability payment however small it may be.
Vocational rehabilitation: Some of the injuries can mean changing from your current job to another. It can also mean going through retraining in order for you to adjust to the previous or new job. The WCB coverage may include this payment if you qualify.
Payment of benefits in case the worker dies. The family of the deceased is eligible to claim burial or final expenses besides the lumpsum payment that is usually paid.
Despite the challenges that injured workers go through following the injuries, some employers or insurance companies deny them their dues, something that can aggravate their anguish and suffering. This means that a patient will be forced to pay out-of-pocket for the medical expenses, which can be too huge to afford. No matter how mild your injuries are, it is important to talk to your medical facility or physician for advice on whether the injuries sustained can have a lifelong effect on your future health and if it can affect your day-to-day work.
Even though the law provides that persons injured while performing duties of the employer are eligible for benefits, the whole process and the law relating to WCB are complex, requiring that a worker enlists the services of a highly skilled worker’s compensation lawyer to piece together evidence and expert reports and prepare the rest of the paperwork before filing a claim for compensation. If you have been denied what you genuinely feel the WCB coverage provides, get a reputable workers’ compensation attorney to file an appeal with the WCB board.
