When you have been hurt at work, you must report your injury to a supervisor, Human Resources representative, or other manager within 90 days in order to be eligible to receive Workers’ Compensation benefits. The sooner you make this report, the better. Filling out an accident report describing the accident and injury can help, as it provides physical proof that you did in fact report the injury, but is not required.
After the injury, the employer must decide whether your injury is compensable. “Compensable” means that the employer agrees that you were hurt while working. Once this determination is made, you can begin receiving Workers’ Compensation benefits such as payment for medical treatment, physical therapy, prescription medications, and mileage reimbursement for your trips to the doctor. If you have been written out of work or placed on light duty and your employer is unwilling or unable to accommodate those restrictions, you may be entitled to lost wages as well. You could also be eligible for disability if a doctor cannot completely cure your symptoms.
When your employer does not agree that your case is compensable, it becomes what is called a denied case. The majority of the cases we handle here at Elrod Pope have been denied by the employer for a variety of reasons: the employer doesn’t believe that you were injured on the job, believes that you failed to report the injury correctly, or doesn’t believe that you were injured at all. It is important to remember that the mere fact that your employer has denied your case does not mean that you are not entitled to Workers’ Compensation benefits. If you have any doubts or questions as to why your case was denied, contact Elrod Pope for a free consultation on whether you should receive these payments. We have decades of experience in working on Workers’ Compensation cases and will always put you first.
