This Is PART THREE IN THE SERIES

SOME WORKERS COMPENSATION BASICS

When you consider this section regarding your existing or pending workers compensation case files, please remember: if you typically forget or regularly disregard imortant dates and events, you may be in for a very rude awakening. Your on the job injury claim revolves around details and dates. The court does not generally have the time or the patience for problems that arise from missed court dates or other related appointments. This could be a determining factor in whether or not you win your case. Get the needed help, no matter what area you need help in!

KNOWLEDGE: SAVE IT - PASS IT ON - OR BOTH!

PLEASE NOTE: The information you are about to read is contained in a ten part article series. Those who have an existing claim or pending claim in the making will benefit greatly from "Don't Get Screwed On Your Worker's comp Claim", not only from one individual part, but by reading the entire series. Each segment is designed to provide the needed workers compensation information for that particular topic, but it also flows right into the next portion of the information, so you can get the full gist of what is being conveyed.

There are lots of ways to stay on top of your workers compensation paperwork and documentation.  If you have to get used to keeping a journal in to help you keep up with times, dates and events, do it. It may save you a lot of headaches in the end. If the ideal of this type of record keeping intimidates you because you're lousy at it, hire someone you trust to help you with your records and bookkeeping! It may sound crazy, especially considering you are already going to be short on money, but that is just how IMPORTANT good record keeping is to your workers compensation case.

There are plenty of secretarial services and freelance workers who offer a varitey of bookkeeping, record keeping and organizational services that may be able to help you. What about getting the help of a friend or family member that is a student or has good office skills. This might be just the thing to help keep you and your important documents in order, so you don't have to completely rely on thsoe involved in the process.

BUT WHAT ABOUT A LAWYER?

While the previous section should have left you with a definite ideal about whether or not to file a worker's compensation claim, if you haven't already done so, it only barely touched on another tough decision.

DO YOU OR DON'T YOU NEED A WORKER'S COMPENSATION ATTORNEY?

There's NO way that I would even begin to attempt to answer that question for you. I personally had such a bad time with my own attorney, I ended up firing him and doing all the legal footwork myself. I learned everything about my workers compensation claim out of necessity, not out of desire or interest. If I had it all to do over again would I use a workers compensation lawyer? Yes - definitely, only this time, I would know exactly what questions to ask him (or her), and I would know what my Rights are myself! I have come to believe that it's up to us to know what our rights are, and it's up to the workers comp attorney and other legal professionals to make sure our rights are upheld.

Sorry, if that sounds like a cop out to the question on whether or not you should hire a workers compensation lawyer to handle your on the job injury case. I say:

• Continue Reading The Rest Of This Information
• Determine What Exactly You're Up Against
  
• Speak To At Least Two Different Lawyers About Your Case
• Make Your Decision Then

FOR ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THIS POINT - PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO PART FOUR: "Important Note"

Worker's compensation law can be very specific and very precise.  You will be asked the same thing, a million times, in a million different ways.  Your facts must be consistent, each time.  Much of what happens with your case is determined by date's of events, so not only is good record-keeping import with regards to your documents (as you’ll read in the next section), but also with respect to times and dates of specific events.

This is not a step-by-step description of what happens during the whole process. You will be provided with that information when you first file your claim. Between your lawyer (if you have one), and the insurance company, you will be given what you need to make sure your claim is opened and started properly. Problems, if any, usually occur later on in the process. The following is just a few points to hopefully help things go smoother.

Date of injury

One very important date with regard to your claim will be the date of injury (DOI). If an actual accident or injury occurred, it is easier to pinpoint the date. This is not the case if you have a repetitive stress injury (RSI), which progressively occurs over a period of time. Whatever the case, when you see the doctor who makes your first report of injury, a date of injury will be established, and used consistently. MAKE SURE TO KNOW THIS DATE AND DOCUMENT IT!

Going off work

As was discussed in the opening statements of this publication, people are often hesitant about stopping work when injured on the job, even though they may be in pain and the doctor recommends not working. If you’ve been injured on the job, or better yet, before an injury occurs, FIND OUT what the laws are where you live, when it comes to injured workers. SEE what your employer’s policies are regarding on the job injuries. KNOW what they provide in the way of additional benefits, apart from what the state offers. Don’t let fear of the loss of income cause you further injury and keep you from the benefits you are entitled to!

When you've never filed a worker's compensation claim, you don't know just what to expect. You worry, and rightly so, about when your worker's compensation benefits will actually start. How slow or fast your benefits are generated depends a lot on the company you work for, and what their particular procedures are.

I worked for the County of Los Angeles, so needless to say, the usual red tape that most companies would ordinarily put you through, I experienced triple fold. I found that everything happened slower, and going through the worker's compensation claim process was like watching paint dry!

Before I actually stopped work completely, I alternated between going to work and calling in sick due to my injury. This later caused a problem for the bookkeeper, and in establishing my actual last day of work. Your last day of work (before being released from work by a doctor) is another important date. I realize now that going back and forth only served to confuse things. REMEMBER THIS POINT

Your first check

Like I've already mentioned, receiving your first workers compensation disability check may only take two weeks, or it may take longer. If it does take several weeks, the company provided sick time and other fringe benefits is what you will be living on until you receive your actual temporary disability payment. When payments are started late, due to one reason or another, retroactive benefits are paid on the first check.

Don't forget that until all the particulars are ironed out, up until this point (and possibly sometime after), "your money will look real funny and your change will look kind of strange!"  For those who dont' get the joke (which by the way is on you), that means you'll be short of cash.  The worse thing you can do to your already poor health, is to burden your body with the stress of money worries. 

So when, and if at all possible, try and put a little something away for a rainy day right now, if you think you may be going off work. 

Get used to budgeting or at least not spending extravegantly.  Your finances will more than like be getting ready to undergo a transition. Even if your monthly amount of income is enough to sustain you until your workers compensation claim is settled, it may be a period of time before it gets started, and given any complications, it could be interrupted at certain intervals.  This may be a hard pill to swallow, but it's better to be prepared about what to REALLY expect.  This information, however, should in now way dissuade injured employees from getting the compensation they're entiltled to for their pain and suffering.

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