If you become ill or are injured on the job, you may have a workers compensation claim. For this reason, you must take certain steps to ensure you receive the compensation and medical care you deserve. Workers Compensation Claims involve many steps, and you may wish to seek legal counsel to ensure you don’t miss any. Following are steps anyone should take in this situation.
When you’re injured or become ill, let your supervisor know right away. Provide details about how you became ill or injured and seek medical treatment. You’ll need to follow up your report with written notification to your employer within a 30 day period. The sooner you provide this notice, the better it will be for your case. In addition, you must file a claim with the board. This claim must be filed on a Form Employee Claim, and the form must be mailed to the local district office of the board. You have two years from the date of the accident to file this document or two years after you learn the injury was job related.
Within 48 hours of your injury, your doctor must fill out a preliminary medical report, and this must be done on a Doctor’s Initial Report form. This must also be mailed to the local district office, and copies sent to the employer and/or his insurance company, along with the injured party and any representative he/she has. The employer only has ten days to report your injury to the insurance company and the Board.
The insurer only has 14 days from receipt of the Report of Work-Related Injury/Illness to provide the employee with a written document outlining the employee’s rights. In addition, the insurer must provide the employee with the name and contact information of network doctors to be used for diagnostic tests. After 18 days, the insurer must begin making payments if the worker has missed more than seven days of work. If he or she is disputing the claim, all parties must be notified.
Payments are made every two weeks and doctors must provide progress reports every 45 days. If one or more steps are missed, you may wish to seek legal counsel. Workers Compensation Claims are common. Make sure you get the compensation you deserve and don’t get lost in the shuffle. An attorney works to ensure this doesn’t happen.
