Work injuries can be exceptionally serious and can leave you facing significant damages, including mounting medical expenses and lost earnings. Help ensure you obtain the workers’ comp benefits you’re owed by working closely with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.
Work injuries are prevalent in the building and construction industries. Workers in these sectors often have to work from heights atop ladders and scaffolding, and they must constantly work on or around heavy and dangerous machinery and equipment.
When a person suffers a serious injury while on the job, they might have to undergo significant medical and brace themselves for substantial medical bills. The worker might also have to miss time from work, losing considerable income.
Being injured on the job is often a challenging experience that can leave you facing serious difficulties in the future. Unfortunately, serious work-related injuries are not uncommon – whether you work in a dangerous field like construction work or ride a desk from 9 to 5. If you’ve suffered an injury on the job, it’s the right time to consult with an accomplished Columbus work injury attorney.
Do You Need Medical Treatment? A Workers Comp Lawyer Is Your Best Bet.
On-the-job injuries can be extremely serious and debilitating. Depending upon the type of accident, workers could suffer traumatic head injuries, bone fractures, muscular sprains, and other serious injuries. If you have suffered a work injury while you were on the job, you might be entitled to bring a claim for workers’ compensation benefits.
A Columbus work injury attorney at The Jones Firm can assist you with bringing your claim and pursuing the benefits that you deserve. Please call us today to learn more about how we could help with your Columbus work injury claim.
Are You Eligible for Workers’ Compensation?
With very few exceptions, all employees in the State of Ohio are eligible for workers’ compensation if they’ve sustained an injury that leads to damages (such as medical expenses and/or lost wages).
Ohio employers must carry workers’ comp coverage for their employees, but contract workers—such as Uber drivers and other gig economy workers—are left out of this equation.
Some other exceptions include the following:
- Injuries sustained while fighting on the job
- Injuries suffered while violating stated company policies on the job
- Injuries sustained while under the influence of drugs or alcohol on the job
- Injuries that were self-inflicted on the job
Generally, suppose you have an employer, and you are injured in the course of your work for that employer. In that case, you are covered by workers’ compensation, but this does not mean that obtaining the compensation you are entitled to will be easy.
Eligibility for Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Injured workers have some recourse.
Under Ohio workers’ compensation laws, for you to be eligible to bring a workers’ compensation claim, you must have been injured while you were on the job and while you were working within the scope of your employment.
These types of benefits are also available without regard to fault. Therefore, simply suffering a work-related injury while you were at work may be sufficient for you to bring a benefits claim.
Independent contractors, however, are not eligible to bring a workers’ compensation claim. An independent contractor typically sets their hours and does not have a salary. Also, employees receive standard W-2 forms at tax time, while independent contractors usually receive a Form-1099.
Types of Workers’ Compensation Benefits
If you have suffered a serious work injury, you might be eligible for several types of workers’ compensation benefits. First, you might be entitled to recover all your related medical and physical therapy expenses. In addition, you could recover a portion of the wages which you lost from not being able to work.
In addition to these economic losses, you might also be able to assert a claim for permanency benefits. For you to be eligible for these benefits, a healthcare provider must be able to state, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that you suffered a permanent injury while you were on the job.
A Columbus workplace injury attorney can determine your eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits and let you know the types of benefits for which you might qualify.
