Worker’s Compensation/Workplace Injury
Unless you’ve been injured on the job before, you are not likely to know what worker’s compensation is. Worker’s compensation laws are designed to protect employees injured on the job. Worker’s compensation is like an insurance policy your employer must carry to make sure that anyone injured while at work can obtain needed medical treatment. It includes financial assistance for lost wages, and compensation for any work-related injury, sickness, or disease that causes total or partial impairment to work. South Carolina Workers’ Compensation is available regardless of fault when the injury arises out of, and in the course of, employment. Every South Carolina employer with four or more full-time employees must have worker’s compensation insurance.
If you are injured on the job, you must submit a claim for benefits according to a particular process set by the Worker’s Compensation Commission. You must notify your employer of your injury within 90 days and you must submit a claim within two years of your injury.
You may be entitled to benefits even if the accident causing your injury was your fault or the fault of a co-worker. A doctor will have to examine you and make an impairment rating, which means the doctor will have to determine how capable you are of functioning or performing job duties after your injury. You may be entitled to temporary total disability payments, which are calculated based on a complex formula, which we can certainly assist you in understanding.
Anyone can submit a claim to the Worker’s Compensation Commission, but it is best to have a lawyer on your side as many unforeseen hurdles can arise, including: denial of your claim, disputes over medical treatment, disputes over medical impairment ratings, disputes over when you can and should return to work, disputes over a settlement amount, and disputes over whether a third party is also at fault.
At Williams & Walsh, we can assist you with each aspect of your on-the-job injury claim, and are ready to help. Please contact us today.
Difficult to Come To the Office for An Appointment?
No Problem! We will come to your home or hospital.
Our free consultation includes an initial meeting with you to discuss your case and review any paperwork you may have relating to your property. Following the initial free consultation, we generally represent and charge clients for our legal services on contingency fee basis, meaning you only pay attorney fees if we obtain a verdict or settlement on your behalf. Our fee, if we are successful, is a percentage of the total compensation we obtain for you. We generally cover all costs while your case is pending which is reimbursed to the firm after the contingency fee is calculated. You are not responsible for reimbursement of costs if there is no recovery.