After suffering a work-related injury, applying for workers’ compensation should be a very simple procedure. Unfortunately, people frequently run into several one-of-a-kind and intricate circumstances that conflict with their assertion. In some situations, accidents that happen off-the-job might affect the workers’ compensation payments you earned for a past workplace accident.
When researching the laws governing workers’ compensation claims, it is quite simple to feel overburdened and confused. If you’re not sure how to handle your claim, a skilled workers’ compensation lawyer is a helpful resource. Speak with PLBH if you have already received workers’ compensation payments for a work-related accident and then sustain other injuries outside of the workplace.
In the event that your workers’ compensation payments are affected by new injuries sustained outside of the workplace, your lawyer can assist you evaluate your best legal choices. Call us now at (800) 435-7542 to request a case review.
The importance of showing job availability
Most businesses find that when injured workers apply for workers’ compensation benefits, it costs them money. Even though they are required by law to process these claims in good faith, some companies discriminate against workers who seek workers’ compensation payments. This doesn’t happen often, though, and an employer is much more likely to look for a loophole or other legal provision that will let them revoke or suspend an employee’s benefits.
An employer typically has to demonstrate two things in order to terminate or suspend an injured worker’s workers’ compensation benefits. They must first demonstrate that the employee has regained all of their ability to work.
Second, they need to demonstrate employment availability, or that the injured worker’s position is still open. The qualification to this second point is that there is no requirement for the employer to demonstrate employment availability in the case of an injured employee who is unable to work as a result of an injury acquired away from the workplace.
In the end, it benefits the business to retain an injured worker and assign them to light labor if their condition permits. Some businesses fail to grasp that working with injured workers for both parties’ benefit is more cost-effective and instead look for ways to save money wherever they can to reduce the cost of their workers’ compensation insurance premiums.
Can non-work-related injuries alter the benefits provided by workers’ compensation?
It may alter your benefits if an injured employee suffers additional harm away from the job while already receiving workers’ compensation benefits for a past work-related accident. It is understandable to worry if the second injury will affect benefits the wounded worker receives. In the end, it will usually come down to whether the initial injury contributed to or was a factor in the second injury.
You may claim that any future injuries were brought on by the first injury, for instance if your job-related injury left you on crutches and you slipped and fell outside of work while using them.
Having an injury to a body part entirely unrelated to the one that was hurt during the initial work-related injury would serve as a counterexample. The victim’s workers’ compensation payments are unlikely to be affected by the second injury if it has no effect on the first. A knowledgeable Los Angeles workers’ compensation attorney can assist in elucidating these concerns. Contact PLBH at (800) 435-7542 now to learn more.