If you get injured at work, it’s important to know exactly what steps you need to take to ensure that you will get the most out of your workers’ comp benefits. In an emergency situation, make sure you dial 911 and seek immediate medical treatment. Your health is the priority; don’t jeopardize your health by waiting to seek treatment. What other steps do you need to remember?
Regardless of how you injured yourself, it is critical to report your injury to your supervisor. The good thing about workers’ comp in North Carolina is that you are covered regardless of whether or not you were at fault. So don’t be afraid to be honest about your injury.
It’s important to be as thorough as possible in your report. Make sure to list every body
part that has been injured, and describe in the detail how the injury occurred. The more specific you can be the better. Be sure to get a copy of your report.
If anyone saw your injury occur, ensure that they write down their own account of the
accident. Having eyewitnesses will help with the validity of your case.
It may not be possible to get pictures of the scene, but you should if you can. And
definitely get pictures of your injuries. It’s good to have a record of them when they were fresh, especially because they’ll heal over the course of your case.
Regardless of the severity of your injury, you must visit a doctor to document the extent
of your injury. Explain to the doctor how you were injured and tell them every body part that was injured.
From here, the next step is to contact an experienced attorney. An attorney can help you evaluate your claim and direct you on how to proceed.
If you file for workman’s compensation, one of the most disheartening things is to have your claim denied — especially if you were counting on your benefits to help make ends meet while waiting to be able to return to work. It can feel like having a door slammed on your only viable option after a work injury. Keep in mind that just because the insurance company has denied your claim, your case is not necessarily closed.
The fact is, insurance companies deny compensable cases all the time. You’re not out of options. At Oxner + Permar, we work with our clients to evaluate their claims and explain their options. For instance, your insurance company may only be willing to offer a settlement. We’re more than happy to evaluate an insurance company’s offer to determine if it is fair. We want to make sure that our clients are receiving the compensation that they deserve.
As an injured employee, you have the right to be heard in a court of law and to have a judge determine the compensability of your claim. We don’t just offer guidance, we’ll fight to have your claim deemed compensable and for the insurance company to be ordered to provide adequate compensation. Don’t let an insurance company call the shots for you. Have someone on your side who knows the law and is willing to fight for you.
If you’ve received an award for a permanent partial disability claim (a lump-sum paid following a Form 26A), that decision can feel set in stone. You’ve gone through the legal steps and had an official decision made about your health and your benefits. However, that’s not entirely the case. Did you know that you have one year to make a claim for a change of condition? This can apply to any change in your physical condition whether it improves or worsens.
For instance, let’s say you’ve been injured at work and you find yourself with limited mobility in your arm. Then as you return to work, instead of your condition improving or staying the same, you notice your injury is becoming worse and, as a result, your job is becoming more difficult to do. In this case, you should contact an attorney.
It’s possible that you may be entitled to additional compensation. When you received your initial award, that amount was based on your condition at the time. However, it’s important to keep in mind that when your condition is being reevaluated, you will be asked whether or not you’ve done anything to aggravate your condition. If it’s determined that your injury was worsened by something preventable, you may not be granted additional compensation.
If you believe that your condition has changed for the worse, you should contact an attorney to discuss your options. An experienced attorney will be able to evaluate your case and help guide you through the process of adjusting your claim.
With the holiday season comes a higher demand for seasonal workers — which works out well with the increase in spending that happens around the holidays. Between gift giving, holiday travel, and big holiday meals, many of us see extra strain on our budgets, which makes this the perfect time to pick up a second job.
Even without the holiday season, an estimated 7.8 million Americans have multiple jobs. However, have you ever thought about how a second job might affect your workers’ compensation?
Unfortunately, North Carolina workman’s comp law doesn’t really reward anyone for having a second job. Let’s say that you work 30 hours a week at a bookstore where you make $12 an hour. Then for the holiday season you pick up an additional job at a shopping mall where you work 20 hours a week and make $8 an hour. So in total you’re making $520 a week.
If you injured yourself while working your job at the mall, workers’ compensation would cover you for two-thirds of your weekly salary at that job. Assuming you weren’t earning any additional salary (bonuses, tips, etc.), your workers’ comp benefits would be $96 a week.
Okay, so you only get $96 a week for your second job. But would you get any benefits if your injury caused you to be unable to work the first job as well? Unfortunately not. In North Carolina, you’re only covered for the job you were working when you got injured.
This is definitely something to take into consideration if you take on a second job — particularly if it’s going to be a high-risk, low-paying job. Of course there are other things to take into consideration, such as personal finances. At Oxner + Permar, we care about our clients and our community, and we want to make sure that everyone is making employment decisions with as much knowledge as possible. Call us so we can help.
There have been a lot of strong emotions regarding this year’s presidential election. Whether or not you’re happy about it, there’s no refuting the fact that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. So regardless of your personal politics, it’s a good idea to know how the president stands on issues that are relevant to your life. For instance, what exactly is Mr. Trump’s plan for Social Security?
Donald Trump’s plan at this point is basically two-fold:
He believes that in order to save the Social Security program, the economy needs to be reinvigorated first. He says, “the key to preserving social security is to have an economy that is robust and growing.” This is where creating jobs comes into play. The idea is that if there are more jobs, then more people will be paying into social security. If there is more money in social security, then more people can receive the benefits they need.
When Trump talks about eliminating waste from Social Security, this refers to eliminating fraudulent claims from the system. For instance, people who have passed away, but whose families are still collecting their social security benefits. If there are fewer people pulling money from the system, then there is more money to go around to those who need it.
During one of the Republican Primary debates, Trump had mentioned being okay with the idea of limits being placed on social security based on income. Therefore, billionaires, and those who make so much money they do not need social security benefits, would not be pulling money from the system. However, Trump has not mentioned this idea again since the Primary.
If you have any legal questions about your Social Security benefits, be sure to contact an experienced attorney who can help.
