Workers' Compensation 101: What Every Employee Should Know

Workers’ Compensation 101: What Every Employee Should Know

On Behalf of Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Sosa | August 26, 2024 | Workers' Compensation

Suffering an injury on the job is especially challenging, and successfully navigating the workers’ compensation process is critical to your recovery. While workers’ compensation is designed specifically to compensate employees who’ve suffered an injury at work, it’s an insurance product, which means that obtaining a just settlement can require considerable effort. One of the most important steps anyone in your situation can take is to consult with an experienced West Palm Beach workers’ compensation attorney early in the process.

Know What Workers’ Compensation Is All About

Workers’ compensation is intended to strike a balance between employees’ rights and employers’ responsibilities. In the process, you have the right to coverage for lost income and necessary medical expenses, but you give up the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer. In turn, your employer is required to cover you with workers’ compensation insurance, but they’re not at risk of facing lengthy and costly personal injury claims.

Know How to Protect Your Rights

If you’re injured at work – such as if you slip and fall, are hit by a falling object, or virtually anything else happens to you – your workers’ compensation claim will be unique to the circumstances involved, but there are certain steps everyone in your situation should take to protect their rights and their claims, including:

• Seek the medical attention you need right away
• Let your employer, boss, or supervisor know that you suffered an injury on the job as soon as you can
• Retain a dedicated workers’ compensation attorney as soon as you’re able to do so
• Follow your doctor’s instructions carefully, including attending all follow-up appointments
• Allow your attorney to skillfully guide your claim toward an optimal outcome

Understand the Insurance Company’s Motivation

Yes, the insurance company is paid to cover you if you’re injured in the course of your work, but they are also in the business of making money. This means they’ll do what they can to keep your settlement as low as possible. Common tactics include the following:

• Twisting claimants’ words in ways that damage their own claims – staying off social media and leaving the insurance company to your attorney is advised
• Prolonging the claims process
• Making the claims process overly complicated
• Offering lowball settlements that too many claimants accept out of desperation
• Denying claims outright without affording them adequate consideration
• Denying the extent of claimants’ physical and financial losses

Your formidable workers’ compensation attorney is well prepared and well positioned to move your claim effectively and efficiently forward toward an advantageous resolution, and they know how to handle the insurance company. 

Make the Call to an Experienced West Palm Beach Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today

The knowledgeable West Palm Beach workers’ compensation attorneys at Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Sosa dedicate their imposing practice to helping clients like you who’ve been injured on the job regain their health and well-being through just compensation, and we’ll leave no stone unturned in defense of your rights. For more information about what we can do to help you, please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us online or call us at 561-478-2500 today.