Queens Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Have you been injured on the job in Queens? Did you know that you could be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and/or disability?
It’s true. Most employers in New York are required to carry no-fault workers’ compensation insurance. This means that benefits can be available to injured workers, regardless of who caused a workplace accident or why it happened.
However, your employer and their insurance provider won’t make things easy for you. That’s why you shouldn’t hesitate to call Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers for help. Our Queens workers’ compensation attorneys are prepared to help you fight to secure all of the benefits you’re entitled to recover under the law.
Our law firm offers a free initial case evaluation. Give us a quick call to arrange a time to sit down with our experienced team to learn more. It’s important to get started on your workers’ compensation case as soon as you can, so call us now.
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Why Do I Need a Queens Personal Injury Lawyer If I Was Hurt on the Job?
Suffering an injury at work can have immediate and long-lasting consequences. Many injured workers are sidelined for weeks – unable to earn a paycheck, pay their medical bills, and support themselves or their families.
For some, their workplace injuries will affect their ability to earn an income for the rest of their lives.
That’s where workers’ compensation benefits can be extremely beneficial. These are benefits that are intended to be paid out to injured workers like you, regardless of the circumstances.
When you recover workers’ compensation benefits after an on-the-job injury, you should be able to stay afloat financially. At the same time, you and your employer both avoid the headache of a lawsuit.
However, the workers’ compensation system doesn’t always work as designed. Employers and insurance companies go to great lengths to prevent injured workers from recovering benefits. Why? Insurance companies care about their profits more than your health and wellbeing. Your employer knows that their premiums will probably go up if the insurer has to pay. So, it’s in their best interests to find a way to keep you from getting the money you deserve.
The Queens personal injury attorneys at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers believe that this kind of behavior is simply unacceptable. That’s why, for more than 40 years, we’ve dedicated our practice to helping injury victims like you stand up to powerful companies in New York City.
If your employer has a workers’ compensation insurance policy and you’ve been hurt at work, we’ll help you demand all of the benefits you deserve. We won’t let your workplace or their insurer bully you or push you around. We’ll be your fiercest advocate and demand what’s rightfully yours.
Understanding the Basics of Workers’ Compensation Insurance in New York
Here’s what you need to know about workers’ compensation insurance policies and benefits in New York.
What is Workers’ Compensation?
Workers’ compensation is a type of no-fault insurance that most employers in New York state are required to purchase and maintain. When an employee is hurt on the job, they are eligible to file a request to recover monetary benefits from this policy. Since this is a no-fault system, it doesn’t matter if the employee’s own negligence contributed to their own accident or injury. Benefits are available, regardless of fault or liability.
You Can’t Sue Your Employer
Under the no-fault system, you are typically prohibited from filing a lawsuit against your employer after suffering an on-the-job injury. Why? One of the purposes of workers’ compensation insurance is to protect employers from an onslaught of lawsuits. So, if you’re covered by a workers’ compensation policy, you’ll essentially waive your right to sue your employer for damages. However, there are, of course, some exceptions. Employers can be personally liable if their actions are willful, show a wanton disregard for your safety, or violate the law.
What’s a Work-Related Injury?
Workers’ compensation benefits are only applicable if you’ve suffered an on-the-job or work-related injury. This means that your injury arose out of and was sustained in the course of employment. In other words, you got hurt or became sick while engaged in activities that were ordinary, reasonable, or necessary to do your job.
You don’t necessarily have to be at your physical job location to suffer a work-related injury. For example, if you were injured in a truck accident while transporting materials to a construction site in Queens for your employer, you could potentially qualify to recover workers’ comp benefits.
Note, however, that benefits wouldn’t typically be available for injuries sustained in a car accident while commuting to or from work.
Your employer and their insurance provider will not want to approve your workers’ compensation claim and pay you benefits. However, under New York State law, your injury will be presumed to be work-related as long as you can show that there’s a causal relationship. You are entitled to compensation unless your employer or your employer’s insurer can provide “substantial evidence” to show your injury is not work-related.
What Do I Have to Do If I Get Hurt at Work?
There are a few steps you’ll have to take if you want to recover workers’ compensation benefits after an on-the-job injury in Queens, NY.
- Seek medical treatment for your injury immediately;
- Tell your immediate supervisor what happened; and
- Notify your employer in writing as soon as you can, no later than 30 days after your accident.
If you do not seek medical care and fail to notify your employer in a timely fashion, you’ll lose out on valuable compensation. So, do not hesitate to make your injury known and initiate the claims process.
What Types of Benefits Are Available Under My Employer’s Workers’ Compensation Policy?
Workers’ compensation is designed to help prevent injured employees from facing a financial catastrophe. Under New York state law, there are several different types of benefits that can be paid. The specific benefits that might be available to you will really depend on the specific details and circumstances of your case. Generally speaking, however, the following workers’ compensation benefits can be available:
Cash Benefits
Cash benefits are essentially compensation for lost wages that you experience after a work-related accident. This type of award is available if you are unable to work for more than 7 days after you get hurt on the job.
Cash benefits typically equal two-thirds of your average weekly wage, multiplied by your percentage of disability (as determined by your doctor). However, the state sets caps on how much an injured employee can take-home. For injuries sustained between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2001, the weekly maximum for cash benefits is $966.78.
Note that Social Security Disability benefits can also be available in cases where injuries are particularly debilitating.
Medical Benefits
Medical benefits are paid to cover the costs of treatment and care you receive after getting hurt while working in Queens. Note that you must obtain treatment from a healthcare provider who has been authorized by the Workers’ Compensation Board. So, you can’t necessarily choose your doctor or decide what kind of care you receive. However, in order to obtain benefits for your medical bills, you’ll have to find an “in-network” doctor, so to speak.
Supplemental Benefits
Supplemental benefits are paid to victims or families of workers who died because of a work-related injury or illness prior to January 1, 1979. These payments, in combination with weekly benefits and death benefits, can’t exceed $215 a week.
Death Benefits
Weekly cash benefits may be available to spouses, children, or dependents of workers who die because of a work-related injury or illness.
We Handle All Workers’ Compensation Injury Cases in Queens
All jobs carry risks. Whether you work in an office, on a construction site, or log a lot of miles on the road, any work-related accident, injury, or illness can change your life forever. At Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, our Queens personal injury lawyers have been standing up for injured workers for decades. We regularly represent clients in workers’ compensation matters involving:
- Burns
- Toxic exposure to chemicals
- Slip and fall accidents
- Construction accidents
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Repetitive motion injuries
- Mesothelioma and other types of cancer, and more.
Whether you’ve suffered brain damage or broken bones, or have been diagnosed with a serious illness, we’re here to help. Call us today to arrange a time to sit down to discuss your case in detail.
Hire Our Queens Workers’ Compensation Lawyers For Help
You might be entitled to compensation if you’ve been injured while working in Queens, New York. However, your employer and their workers’ compensation insurance provider won’t make things easy for you.
Let Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers stand up and fight to recover all of the monetary benefits you deserve. We’ll work tirelessly to maximize your recovery so that you can focus on getting better.
We offer a free consultation, so reach out to our Queens law office today to schedule yours and learn more.