Shoulder Injuries: Are You Eligible For Workers' Compensation Benefits?

Posted on: 5 December 2017

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If you injure your shoulder on the job, you should apply for workers' compensation benefits as soon as you can. But if your employer refuses to acknowledge or report your injury, speak to an attorney. Regardless of how you injured your shoulder, you may still be entitled to workers' comp benefits. Here's why you qualify for workers' compensation benefits and what you can do to get them.

What Are Your Employer's Responsibilities?

Workers' compensation is a program designed to assist injured or disabled employees with their medical needs. The insurance may also provide financial benefits to those workers. Depending on their state laws, employers should maintain workers' compensation insurance at all times. An employer must also report your injuries to workers' comp as soon as they occur.

Although some states allow you time to file a claim, other states and entities require you to report and file a worker's comp claim immediately or within 30 days or less. Some injuries, such as broken shoulder bones, can require special medical care or treatment to diagnose and document. If you don't have the documentation you need on hand or record, it may keep you from receiving any type of workers' compensation benefits.

If your employer violated the requirements above for any reason at all, contact a workers' compensation lawyer for help.

What Should You Do to Get Worker's Comp?

Unless you already have medical evidence of your shoulder injury, an attorney will need to send you to a doctor for treatment. The medical documentation from your doctor visit is proof of your injury. A doctor can also show when and how you injured your shoulder. Your employer may state that your injury occurred at home or at another location, but the medical documents may prove otherwise.

In addition, an attorney may choose to investigate your employer for workers' comp fraud. Although most employers are honest about their employees' injuries, some employers aren't. If your boss has a habit of lying about workers' comp injuries, it's essential that you have proof of it.

Once a lawyer secures the information they need for your claim, they can help you file for your benefits. You may not receive an immediate approval until the state completes a thorough investigation of your case and claim. However, an attorney will continue working on your case until you receive your benefits.

You can find out more about workers' compensation by contacting a law firm near you, like Prediletto, Halpin, Scharnikow & Nelson, P.S., today.