Workers’ Compensation can be extremely complicated. When you are injured at work, the last thing you want to do is spend countless hours trying to figure out how all your medical appointments get paid and how to apply for benefits. Here is a summary of the three main things you can expect when you file a workers’ compensation claim:
Many workers’ compensation firms can file a claim if you are injured at work. The advantage of the Hurm Law Firm is that we understand labor and employment law and can avoid common pitfalls that can threaten your job. We are a job-protecting law firm. We will not stop until you and your family are protected.
The Hurm Law Firm has experienced litigators that can handle all your work injury needs. From the Family Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, to the state’s workers’ compensation laws, the Hurm Law Firm can exercise all your rights to protect you and ensure you have the time you need to recover from your work injury.
The Hurm Law Firm faces big corporations every day. We take pride in representing workers against Fortune 500 and international corporations and winning. Working people need a fair shake and the Hurm Law Firm fights to give them that fair shake, and much more.
Workers’ Compensation is extremely complicated. When you are injured at work, the last thing you want to do is spend countless hours trying to figure out how all your medical appointments get paid and how to apply for benefits. Here is a summary of the three main things you can expect when you file a workers’ compensation claim.
When you are injured at work and you miss more than seven days on the job, you are owed lost wage benefits that are intended to replace the income you lost because you were injured. There are many kinds of lost wage benefits, but the most common benefit is temporary total benefits. These benefits compensate you for the time you are totally disabled and temporarily unable to work. Your benefit will be calculated based on your average weekly wage. There are many exceptions and caveats to this, but you can generally plan on receiving at least 66% of your average weekly wage as a weekly benefit. There are no withholdings on this benefit, so your take-home-pay is usually comparable to when you work. One of the main purposes of this benefit is to ensure you are not rushed back from your injury before it has fully healed.
When you suffer a workers’ compensation injury, you will need medical treatment to heal. This can frequently mean surgery, doctor’s visits, specialist consultations, and physical therapy. Once your claim is approved, the state should pay for every penny of your care for the work injury. One important note to remember is that you have the right to pick your own doctor. Many employers will send injured workers to an employer-biased medical service provider. Do not allow your employer to pick your doctor, especially a doctor that is employer-biased and will rush you back to work before you are ready.
The majority of injured workers without attorneys do not know about—and don’t file for—the final lump sum payment almost every injured worker has a right to, and that is your permanent partial disability payment. It can be a couple of hundred dollars, a couple of thousand dollars, or tens of thousands of dollars, depending on a number of factors. After you have either healed from your injury and returned to work or reached the maximum improvement modern science can achieve, the clock begins. Once six months pass, you can file for a permanent partial disability payment. The purpose of this payment is to compensate you for the impact the injury had on your life. If you used to be able to throw a 90-mph fastball and now you cannot lift your arm above your shoulder, this impacts your life, and a significant lump sum payment should be made. The size of your lump sum payment is decided by doctors who examine your injuries and determine what percentage of your livelihood is impaired. Having an attorney can greatly improve the likelihood that you will get a large permanent partial disability payment. If you have any questions about workers’ compensation or want to secure the services of an experienced and knowledgeable attorney, do not hesitate to contact the Hurm Law Firm at (216) 860-1922.
No! Ohio workers cannot be fired or suffer any other negative impact from filing a workers’ compensation claim or suffering a work injury. If you are an Ohio worker that suffered any kind of retaliation including but not limited to:
The State of Ohio takes retaliation against those that file workers’ compensation claims or suffer workers’ compensation injuries seriously. If proven true, the retaliation victims will both be reinstated to their previous job and get backpay for the time they would have been employed if not for the employer’s illegal retaliation.
If you have suffered retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim or for suffering a work injury, immediately call the Hurm Law Firm at (216) 860-1922. The consultation is free and we love making employer’s pay for their foolish vengefulness.
It is a national trend that major corporations pretend that their workers are “independent contractors” instead of employees. These corporations claim they are giving their workers freedom, but what they are really doing is denying their workers unemployment, workers’ compensation, and other benefits and saving millions of dollars and shortchanging their workers.
Thankfully, many of these corporations are sloppy and while they call their workers “independent contractors,” they actually are treating them as employees. And if you are treated as an employee, you ARE an employee. There is a seven-factor test to determine if you are an employee or independent contractor. Construction workers have their own twenty-factor test. For both, the central question is who controls the work you perform and how you perform it.
For non-construction industries, the factors considered include whether the company or worker controls these aspects of work. The relevant aspects are:
If the company controls all these aspects, the worker is an employee. If the worker controls all these aspects, the worker is an independent contractor.
For construction workers, there is a twenty-factor test:
Ohio Revised Code 4123.01(A)(1)(c).
If your answer to most of the questions is yes, then you are probably an employee. If your answer to most of the questions is no, then you are probably an independent contractor.
While these tests are not as simple as determining whether or not the majority of factors lead toward an employee or independent contractor, the more factors that lean one way or another the more likely the outcome will prevail. These tests are complicated and many questions can arise taking the test. If you have any questions, feel free to call the Hurm Law Firm at (216) 860-1922 and ask for a free consultation regarding this test and your status as an employee or independent contractor.
If your employer is complying with the law, then your workers’ compensation claim should not affect them much at all. An employer’s state premiums are calculated based on the lost-wage benefits the state may have to pay to workers on the employer’s behalf. The employer completely controls how much they are harmed by your claim because they can avoid the state making any lost wage payments by simply continuing to pay you while you are out injured.
That said, many Ohio corporations still try to convince their workers not to file a workers’ compensation claim when they suffer a work injury. Many of the excuses they give are either lies, deeply disadvantageous for workers, or even criminal. But many corporations do not care. Some of their excuses are:
If your employer tries to convince you to not file a workers’ compensation claim, you should also know that retaliating against a worker for filing a workers’ compensation claim is unlawful and you are protected. These issues are serious, and if you face these issues you should contact the Hurm Law Firm immediately and get a free consultation by calling (216) 860-1922.
Absolutely! Under Ohio law, a worker has the right to pick their own doctor. Period. The ability to switch doctors is important, especially if you are seeing the doctor your employer recommended.
Many employers will give you a recommendation that you should go to a doctor of their choice. Many of the employer-chosen doctors are employer-biased. These doctors get most of their patients from employer referrals and generally try and keep the employer happy by returning the worker back to work as soon as possible, regardless of the workers’ long-term wellness.
For an example, the Hurm Law Firm handled a case where an employer-recommended doctor told an employee with THREE broken bones that they could return to work in three days. This terrible medical advice could have caused the worker nerve damage and a long-term disability. Thankfully that workers’ union knew about the Hurm Law Firm and we sent him to a foot specialist that was not employer-biased. The foot specialist had the worker in treatments and physical therapy for over a year, all while the worker was paid benefits throughout the recovery from his work injury.
If you are going to the doctor your employer recommended, give the Hurm Law Firm a call at (216) 860-1922. We will give you a free referral to a doctor that is not employer-biased. It is vital that you trust your doctor and the only way you can do that is to speak with a doctor without a hidden agenda. Call the Hurm Law Firm today.
You can absolutely change attorneys at any point during your workers’ compensation claim. That said, the Hurm Law Firm does not recommend doing so unless you are very unhappy and/or the attorney is showing signs of incompetence such as:
If none of these issues are present, it is generally best to keep the same attorney throughout the claim. This is because your current attorney should have formed relationships with the key individuals in your case such as the doctors, claim representatives, and the other side’s representatives. Those relationships should speed up the process and bring quicker results for you.
That said, if you ever want to make a change the process is as simple as filling out an R2 form [link: https://www.bwc.ohio.gov/downloads/blankpdf/r-2.pdf] and retainer agreement with a new attorney or law firm. If you have questions about this process or would like to switch to the Hurm Law Firm, feel free to call us at (216) 860-1922.
If you injured yourself at work, insurance does not cover your injury. That is because the workers’ compensation system is built to help the victims of work injuries. If you lie and say a work injury is not a work injury so that your health insurance will cover it, then you have committed insurance fraud. Under Ohio Revised Code 2913.47, insurance fraud is either a misdemeanor or felony depending on the seriousness of your injury.
This is not a game worth playing. If you injured yourself at work, tell your doctor the truth. If your employer told you to lie, do not do it and find a better employer. The workers’ compensation system is nothing to be afraid of and is, frankly, a lot better for workers. If a work injury is covered by insurance, the worker loses their right to:
Having your health insurance pay for your claim is illegal and will cost you thousands of dollars in benefits. Do not do this.
