We are often asked about how much of the damages incurred by workplace injuries/illnesses are covered by worker’s compensation. Can you, for instance, expect to be compensated if you get infected by COVID while on your job? In this article, we’ll explore the conditions and categories which qualify for compensation via worker’s compensation to help you better understand what your situation holds.
If you do have to face financial and non-financial losses due to a work-related injury or illness, you need to discuss matters with a worker’s compensation lawyer as soon as possible. There is no other way to get compensated fairly for all of your losses, especially not by handling things on your own.
But before we can move to that stage, let’s see what situations qualify for worker’s compensation:
The Damages Must Be Work-Related
Well, this much is a no-brainer: if you want to be compensated for certain work injuries and damages, you’ll first have to verify that the losses are indeed work-related.
Maybe it was your work routine that took its toll on you, a slip and fall accident in a warehouse, or an infection from work (i.e. if one of your colleagues was not vaccinated for COVID and transmitted it despite precautions from your side), and so on.
The best practice in this regard is to gather as much evidence as possible so you never run out of resources to help strengthen your case. If you have photos, videos, and other records showing that your damages are work-related, ideally gathered on the spot, then you’re golden.
Work-Related Illnesses
Occupational illnesses or work-related diseases are different from routine infections, and you have the burden of proving that you contracted them in the workplace. Illnesses like black lung disease which is caused by coal dust, asbestosis which results due to exposure to asbestos, or COVID-19 are easier to prove as occupational diseases once the medical link is established. The same, however, can’t be said for the cold or flu which are regular infections that a person can contract from anywhere.
COVID-19 Contracted From The Workplace
Whether or not you get coverage for COVID infection will depend on the state laws, but if you do want to get compensated, you’ll have to prove that you were infected in the workplace, due to negligence on part of your management staff. For instance, maybe your employer did not mandate COVID vaccination for all, or there were no checks for the SOPs, or no verification about whether people were indeed vaccinated or not. In such cases, your employer will be considered liable for the damages given that you acted responsibly throughout.
Injuries Resulting From Repetitive Motion
Once again, a straightforward category – being subjected to a stressful heavy routine without respite can lead to serious injuries such as muscle strains and sprains. Lifting boxes, packing and unpacking stuff, moving heavy packages around, and handling heavy items (in general), can have such consequences. All employers are generally required not to overburden their workers and to offer rests in between work sessions to let the employees work at an optimal rate.
Compensation For Pre-Existing Conditions
If some pre-existing conditions are diagnosed while you’re being checked for the effects of your current injury, you will still get compensated for the damages you sustained. Your injury will be seen as an aggravation of your previous condition, however, some benefits might be slashed.
Loss Of Hearing Due To Noise
If someone works in an industry where they have to work in extremely noisy environments and that leads to loss of hearing, then this once again is a condition that deserves compensation. Worker’s compensation will cover such damages without issue.
Losses Incurred By Stress & Vice Versa
Anxiety and stress are directly correlated with illnesses and injuries – things can go both ways: a person might either contract some serious illness due to a stressful work environment or may fall into the pit of depression after sustaining some serious injury at work. In both cases, the person deserves to be compensated for the losses as long as a connection can be built between the work environment and the damages sustained.
Death
Lastly, if an employee dies due to some related injury or illness, their survivors (i.e. parents, spouse, children) can demand compensation for wrongful death, i.e. the economic and non-economic losses that they suffered due to the death of their loved one.
In all such cases, you should not hold back from contacting our professional NC Worker’s Compensation Lawyers for timely assistance and legal representation.