Vallejo Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

Fault & Workers’ Compensation Rules

Workers’ compensation is a no-fault-based insurance system. Under its rules, you can file a workers’ compensation claim after any injury or illness that you suffer in relation to your employment, even if your mistakes are the sole cause of your harm and losses. For example, if you trip on your own feet while stocking boxes at work and suffer a head injury, you should be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

However, workers’ compensation rules usually bar you from filing a civil injury claim against an employer for negligence, even if it is clear that your employer’s mistakes caused your injury. For example, your employer fails to repair a ladder used in the stockroom, and it collapses when you try to use it, resulting in your injury; in this situation, your employer was negligent, but you still cannot sue them directly, not if you can file for workers’ compensation instead.

Important Workers’ Compensation Benefits

If you are covered by workers’ compensation, you should be able to use a variety of benefits, such as:

• Medical care: If you need any medical treatment related to your work injury or illness, it should be fully covered by workers’ compensation. This coverage includes past and future care, hospitalization, surgery, medications, medical equipment, and so on.
• Temporary disability: If you cannot return to work right away due to your injury, you might receive temporary disability benefits equal to two-thirds of your average pre-injury weekly wages, usually up to 104 weeks.
• Permanent disability: If your injury is permanent and prevents you from gaining the same level of income you earned before your injury, you might receive permanent disability benefits. Such financial benefits are calculated based on the type and severity of your disability.
• Supplemental job displacement: If you cannot return to your same role or occupation after reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI), you might be eligible to receive financial support for retraining or education courses that will allow you to begin a career that accommodates your disability.

Did you lose a loved one to a fatal work-related injury or illness? The workers’ compensation policy that covered your loved one might have included death benefits available to you now. Death benefits usually help pay for final rites and may even provide your family with a percentage of your lost loved one’s wages for a while.

Workers’ Comp Claims Process

Most workers’ compensation claim processes involve at least these four basic steps:

1. Medical treatment: You should always seek medical care after being injured at work, including when you think your injury is only minor.
2. Notification: If you did not tell your employer about your injury immediately or before you received medical treatment, be sure to notify your employer as soon as possible. You must submit an official accident report within 30 days of your work injury or you could be barred from seeking workers’ compensation.
3. DWC-1 form: Once you report your injury to your employer, you should be given a DWC-1 form within 24 hours. By filling out and returning this form to your employer, your workers’ compensation case will officially begin.
4. Talk to an attorney: If you did not talk to an attorney for help filling out the DWC-1 form or another step in this process before, you should consider speaking to one after returning the completed form. A Vallejo workers’ comp lawyer from Pacific Workers', The Lawyers for Injured Workers can walk you through every step that follows and act in your best interests along the way.

What is the California 90-Day Workers’ Comp Rule?

In California, insurance claims adjusters must respond to a workers’ compensation claim within 90 days. If you are not given any type of notification – such as a case approval or denial – within 90 days, our attorneys can argue that the insurance company is allowing it to default in your favor, meaning that you would be entitled to all available benefits. Also, between the time of filing a workers’ comp claim and receiving a response, including a denial, the insurance company is required to pay for all your necessary medical treatments, which serves as motivation for the insurer to review your case quickly and fairly.

Let Us Take Care of Your Case – Call Now

The California workers’ compensation system is often confusing and frustrating to injured workers who try to navigate it alone. Give yourself the rest and support you deserve by coming to Pacific Workers', The Lawyers for Injured Workers. Our Vallejo workers’ compensation attorneys are standing by to help you with the entire process. Your case is our priority!

Dial (888) 740-6434 and schedule a free case review with our law firm.