Workers’ compensation is payment provided by an employer to cover the medical expenses and lost wages of workers who get injured on the job. Almost all employers are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance, and it must provide the money owed to injured workers without delay. If you have been injured at work but have not received the workers’ compensation payments to which you are entitled, you may have grounds for a workers’ compensation lawsuit. Here are some commonly misunderstood facts about workers’ compensation law in Missouri.
MYTH: All Workers Are Entitled to Workers’ Compensation Benefits.
FACT: While the gig economy may be a boon to resourceful freelancers, it is not so helpful if you get injured. Most employers are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance to pay for expenses related to employees’ work injuries, but the key word is employees. Not everyone who works is an employee. Doing odd jobs for people might be a good way to put money in your pocket quickly, but if you get injured while performing yard work for your neighbor, there is no guarantee of workers’ compensation. (If the yard is dangerous because of your neighbor’s negligence in maintaining it, though, you might have grounds for a workers’ compensation lawsuit.) Likewise, you do not get workers’ compensation for injuries related to work as an independent representative for a direct sales company, so the next time your former high school classmate tracks you down on Facebook and tries to recruit you to sell Mary Kay cosmetics, you can always make the argument that you would prefer a job opportunity that covers workers’ compensation. Likewise, domestic workers, farm workers, volunteers, and participants in some youth job training programs are not covered.
MYTH: All Work-Related Injuries Can Be Covered by Workers’ Compensation.
To receive workers’ compensation payments for an injury, you must be able to prove that an event that happened at work is the main cause of the injury. Not all workers’ compensation cases are as clear-cut as when a worker slips and falls at work and breaks his arm. Sometimes workers’ compensation cases relate to chronic pain from working a physically demanding job for many years or from diseases related to occupational hazards. It is less easy to prove that you got cancer because of exposure to certain carcinogenic chemicals rather than because of any other factors. To help you make the best possible case for the fact that your chronic illness or chronic pain is the result of hazards endured on the job and not of any other cause, the best thing you can do is to contact a lawyer who is experienced in workers’ compensation cases.
Contact Walton Telken About Workers’ Compensation Cases
The attorneys at Walton Telken, LLC are experienced with dealing with workers’ compensation cases in St. Louis and Kirkwood, Missouri. Contact Walton Telken, LLC to discuss your work injury and see if you have grounds for a workers’ compensation lawsuit.
The information provided by Walton Telken, LLC in this Blog is not intended to be legal advice, but merely provides general information related to common legal issues. This Blog, and the information contained within it, is Attorney Advertisement. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be judged on its own merits.
