Accidents on the job in Illinois or Indiana offer workers the opportunity to get financial help in the aftermath by filing for workers’ compensation benefits. This is not the same as a lawsuit based upon personal injury law against one or more defendants. Workers’ compensation is different from civil court actions.
What is Workers’ Compensation?
Under state and federal law, employers are required to purchase insurance policies that cover employee work injuries. Different laws apply in different jurisdictions. A common denomination to all these different statutory schemes is that the worker does not have to prove up fault.
From the Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana:
Worker’s compensation is an accident insurance program paid by your employer which may provide you with medical, rehabilitation and income benefits if you are injured on the job. These benefits are provided to help you return to work. It also provides benefits to your dependents if you die as the result of a job-related injury.
You are covered from the first day you are on the job…. The law requires most businesses to have worker’s compensation insurance. If you are injured while working at your job, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
The extent of the coverage and the benefits provided are defined by the statute that applies in the particular circumstance. As explained in the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Handbook on Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Diseases, page 4:
The [Illinois] Workers’ Compensation Act provides that accidents that arise out of and in the course of employment are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. This generally means that the Act covers injuries that result in whole or in part from the employee’s work.
The specific benefits provided to the injured worker will depend upon the laws that apply to their particular situation as well as the provisions within their employer’s policy. If there are disputes regarding the claim, either (1) in what is covered or (2) if it has been denied, there are administrative boards (Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission; Indiana Worker’s Compensation Board) that serve as the resolution forum. For more, read The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois; and Worker’s Compensation vs. Personal Injury Claims: Who Has to Pay?
Insofar as what the injured worker can expect to receive in the form of workers’ compensation benefits, these are very different from the potential damages that may be recovered in a personal injury matter. To learn more about them, read Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana: Workers Compensation Claim vs. Personal Injury Damages and Damages are Different: Workers Compensation vs. Third Party Personal Injury Claims.
Possible Benefits Under a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Illinois or Indiana
To serve accident victims and their loved ones who are dealing with the consequences of a worker’s serious injuries sustained on the job, we provide the following list of possible benefits that may be available under workers’ compensation policies. Again, their particular situation will be unique, depending upon both the law and the policy involved.
1. Medical Care
Workers’ compensation insurance should cover all medical care expense that is deemed reasonable and necessary for the worker to recover from the accident. This may be extensive, of course. Surgeries, anesthesia, drugs, etc., will all be covered here.
2. Temporary Partial Disability (“TPD”)
Sometimes, workers are injured but they can still do some work. Maybe only part-time, for instance. Or perhaps, in a limited manner. Here, benefits cover the difference in the worker’s wages from the amount before the incident and the amount they are able to earn with their partial disability.
3. Permanent Partial Disability (“PPD”)
The cruel reality for too many workers in Illinois and Indiana is that a severe on-the-job accident renders them with a lifelong change to their body. They suffer permanent impairment. One example here is the amputation of a body part either during the accident itself or as a medical necessity afterwards. The benefits here are designed to provide for this loss, recognizing that the ability to work is forever changed. For more on amputations, read Traumatic Amputations in Industrial Accidents.
4. Temporary Total Disability (“TTD”)
Workers and their loved ones may face days, weeks, or even months where the worker is simply not able to work at all. The blessing is a prognosis that they will recover from their injuries eventually. During this recovery period, “TTD” benefits are provided. They will cover a percentage of the worker’s income, not all of it.
These benefits end when (1) the worker has healed to the point they can go back to their job, or (2) where they have had “maximum medical improvement,” and face a future where there is not any treatment that will bring them back to their past condition, before the accident.
5. Permanent Total Disability (“PTD”)
Workers who simply are unable to work in any manner whatsoever because they have suffered catastrophic injuries in the work accident will have claims for PTD benefits. These are payments under the insurance policy that continue into the future for the duration of the worker’s life, or until the worker is blessed with a recovery that allows a return to working. PTD claims are usually the result of the most tragic and horrific work accidents.
6. Medical Equipment; Prosthetics; Modifications
Workers’ compensation also provides financial help for workers who need medical equipment (think a wheelchair). Prosthetics (artificial limbs) are also covered. The worker may also get coverage for the cost of modifying their home to accommodate their needs (entry ramps; rails for bathrooms; etc.).
7. Travel Expenses
These policies may provide financial help to the family budget insofar as covering costs of travel expenses needed for the worker’s medical care or rehabilitation. For example, perhaps the worker needs to stay overnight in Chicago in order to see a specialist: that stay may be the basis of a benefit claim.
8. Rehabilitation
As the worker recovers from their injuries, the reality that they cannot return to their old job may become clear. However, they may be able to earn a nice income in a new line of work if they are given education or training. Worker’s compensation may provide financial coverage here, as well as in placement services when the time is right.
9. Death Benefits
For advocates of worker victims and their loved ones, all too often the horrific truth of a severe work accident is that the worker dies from the accident injuries. This may happen immediately, or it may happen weeks or months thereafter, when the worker’s body is simply unable to recover from the extensive harm suffered.
In these circumstances, the worker’s family (as defined by the statute) will be able to apply for “death benefits.” These will likely be weekly payments. They may include funeral expenses.
10. Survivor Benefits
For the deceased’s widow(er) and dependent children (as defined by law), the worker’s compensation policy may also provide benefits that jive with what they would have been provided by the worker if the accident had not happened. These are called “survivor benefits.”
Workers’ Compensation Benefits and Personal Injury Damage Claims
Workers’ compensation benefits are a lifesaver for accident victims who are hurt in an on-the-job accident. The extent of these benefits will be defined by law. They will be provided in accordance with the insurance policy purchased by their employer. They are not taxable income under state or federal law.
However, these benefits are not the same as personal injury claim damages. Work accident victims and their loved ones are often shocked to discover the extent of difference between these two very independent avenues for justice.
In a serious on-the-job accident in Indiana or Illinois, the worker victim has a legal right to independently investigate the event in order to determine if third parties failed in legal duties of care and safety, causing the worker’s harm and resulting damages. These damages are more comprehensive and extensive than the benefits provided under workers’ compensation.
For more, read:
- 10 Types of Injury Damages That May Be Awarded to Accident Victims
- Accident Reconstruction Experts and Injury Claims
- Construction Accident Expert Witnesses in Work Accident Claims
- Why a Lawyer who is a Trial Attorney Is Important for Accident Victims in Personal Injury Cases
- Task List for Chicago Road Construction Accident Victims Seeking Justice for Work Injuries
- Deadlines for Injury Victims to File Lawsuits: Statutes of Limitations
- Wrongful Death Claims in Illinois and Indiana: Different Laws Providing Justice after a Fatal Injury.
It is a good thing that the laws of Illinois, Indiana, as well as federal statute in some instances, exist to help workers who are injured on the job. Often, families can get fast financial support for medical costs; living expenses; etc. These victims need to understand the scope of benefits available to them under the law as well as how these things are different from possible damages claims under personal injury law. Workers in Indiana and Illinois work in some of the most dangerous industries in the country. Please be careful out there!
