With the nation recently battered by two huge hurricanes, it’s important to know where you stand at work should you be caught in a storm and how workers’ compensation rates can be impacted by such events.  

In the U.S., there is no such thing as disaster leave. This means that if a disaster is imminent, you can be fired for failing to show up for work. However, you may have a case for working in unsafe conditions during a disaster if you work a non-union private sector job. 

You have been injured at work. You have filed a claim with the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Either your case is accepted and you receive benefits, or it is denied and you don’t. Some big issue – like the denial of medical treatment, or the insurance company trying to cut off your benefits — may have caused you to file for a hearing. But in a North Carolina workers’ compensation case, hardly anything happens quickly. What’s the best thing to do when you just have to wait until your case is done?

Congratulations! You’ve won the award. Now what? Your client who receives means-tested government benefits – Medicaid and SSI – may lose eligibility due to the injury award. Perhaps, due to the nature of the injury, the client may need professional assistance to manage their funds even in the absence of public benefits. And, your client may also have future Medicare expenses stemming from the injury. How can you protect current and future benefit eligibility, help your client manage the funds, and plan for future Medicare expenses? The coordinated use of a Medicare Set-Aside Account (MSA) within a Pooled Special Needs Trust (PSNT) can help solve these problems.

In April as part of the horse trade known as the New York State Budget, injured workers’ benefits were used as bargaining chips. The Business Counsel had argued that schedule loss of use awards which are given to workers’ for permanent injuries to the extremities were suddenly unfair to the employer. The original guidelines they argue were outdated and did not take into consideration new advances in medicine. One of the Budget provisions directed the Board to “consult” with a group stacked with pro-business and insurance interests to re-evaluate the current guidelines. Recently rather than addressing how advances in modern medicine enhance healing or create better outcomes, the Board totally disregarded the legislation’s directive and instead simply rewrote the entirety of the guidelines to create a new evaluation process which would destroy previously awarded benefits for permanent injuries.

Federal laws require companies to protect employees who work with dangerous machinery. Two recent finger-amputation incidents at a Primex Plastics Corporation plant in Georgia are a stark reminder that there can be severe consequences for employers and employees when safety efforts fall short

The internet has killed the traveling salesman, but that does not mean that employees have stopped ‘travelling’.  Every day, thousands of employees either drive, hop on a plane or board a train to reach their intended customer and every day, these employees are hurt on the job. In fact, studies have shown that workers who travel for their job are more likely to sustain injuries.

Unfortunately, if a worker is injured while traveling, employers and insurance companies are much more likely to question a workers’ compensation claim by asking if the injury actually occurred during the course of employment.

In the course of settling a worker’s compensation or liability case, there are many obstacles to overcome. One of the most frequent challenges is reaching a settlement for the injured party’s future medical costs. While settling may be a scary thought for the injured party, the truth is that keeping the case open can also prove to be a huge hassle for them. 

Construction work is known to be a dangerous job. Construction accidents leave many workers injured each year. Although the risks of the job are well known, that doesn’t mean that construction accident victims don’t have rights. When construction workers are injured on the job, they should work with an experienced work injury lawyer to ensure they are justly compensated for the full extent of their damages. One of the most common types of injuries to be suffered during a construction accident is crush injuries.

Did you know that hand-related injuries account for about 1/3 of all workplace injuries, 1/3 of chronic injuries, ¼ of lost work time, and 1/5 of permanent disability?

Your hands might not be the first thing that comes to mind when workplace safety is mentioned, but maybe they should be. The above statistics are brought forward by ChooseHandSafety.org, an organization raising awareness about how important it is to keep your hands safe at the workplace

Attending one or multiple Defense Medical Examinations (DME) is a component of nearly every workers’ compensation claim.  The industry also refers to these evaluations as Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs); however, this is a misnomer. They are anything but “independent.”