Unlike common negligence situations covered by personal injury laws in states including North Carolina, workers’ compensation laws only cover economic damages caused by any given incident. This means that a worker may be compensated less than what they rightfully deserve and not even know about it.
Thus it pays one to be extra careful about one’s choice in the matter, and it should be a top priority for you to get a workers’ compensation lawyer on board to ensure that you get a fair settlement for all that you had to go through. The laws might be limited, but you have complete rights afforded as a citizen, and you should thus use them.
Let’s begin with understanding what workers’ compensation covers and why you should care about it.
What Does Workers’ Compensation Cover?
As noted earlier, workers’ compensation laws in North Carolina only cover the economic aspects of your losses. Normally, personal injury cases should also deal with the non-economic side of the damages as well such as pain and suffering, both physical and psychological.
However, this is not how the workers’ compensation law works.
But you can still claim fair compensation for your medical bills and all the lost wages for the whole duration of being rendered unable to work. This sum should be adequate to cover your losses, and there is nothing wrong with demanding a higher settlement than what your company is offering you.
The company owes it to you to offer a fair settlement if you had to undergo a workplace accident or were put in harm’s way otherwise. In such cases, your right to compensation is very well-defined, and you won’t be betraying your employer by demanding the same.
Just remember that dealing with your employer on your own is never a good idea, thus get a competent workers’ compensation lawyer to help you with the following:
Compensation for Your Medical Treatment
The medical treatment compensation can turn into a tug of war between you and the employer’s insurance company, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Firstly, you don’t necessarily have to miss work to claim medical compensation, i.e. for non-catastrophic injuries.
It is your right to be given an adequate settlement for getting injured and having to get yourself patched up. Keep the medical bills and receipts with you as proof to highlight your sufferings and share the same with your lawyers to get through the whole mess without any trouble.
If necessary, your lawyer can involve experts to prove the severity of your injuries if the insurance company does not buckle.
Monetary Compensation For Disability
Some workplace injuries can leave you with disabilities, either temporary or permanent, forcing you to stay off the work routine for a while.
And of course, for all the work you had to miss because of an accident, you deserve to be compensated as if you worked the whole time. This amount will be based on your original compensation for work, per hour, per day, or per week.
These settlements can be broken down into two categories:
Temporary Benefits: These cover the healing period for the employee, i.e. if they fractured a bone, the company will have to pay them based on their average weekly wage beforehand (two-thirds) if the injury puts them out of work for more than a week. Even if the employee can return to work but has a diminished working capability for some time, the company will have to compensate them for that period.
Permanent Benefits: If the worker’s injury recovers as much as it will but there is still impairment, then the doctor will rule it as a permanent injury and the employer’s insurance company will be liable for the payments. The payments for this are calculated based on the intensity of the disability, thus you should be extra careful before you accept a sum.
Contact Us Today
Getting a professional workers’ compensation lawyer from the NC Workers’ Compensation Lawyers firm is more than about getting your rightful compensation. It is about maintaining a professional relationship with your employer by not engaging in negotiations with them when you’re not emotionally ready to do so.
By taking a step back, you’ll let professionals do what they do best and thus avoid having a scene. This way, not only will you get compensated fairly but also maintain a professional relationship with your employer. Surely, they will understand why you felt the need to hire a lawyer, and this won’t be held against you (and by the law, they can’t).
So, if you’ve run into trouble, call us today!
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