What to Do After a Work Injury

This video features Kathleen M. Reilly, a Personal Injury attorney based in New Jersey.

Attorney Kathleen M. Reilly | 888-981-0027 | Free Consult

“He slipped on ice and fell through the opening in the platform where stairs were supposed to be ultimately installed, and he suffered a serious injury to his arm.”

Do you know what to do after a work injury? Should you tell your employer about the injury? Are there options beyond workers’ comp?

Kathleen M. Reilly is a personal injury attorney based in Kearny, New Jersey with over 30 years of experience. She is the managing partner of Brady Brady & Reilly, LLC. In this interview, she explains what you should do after an on-the-job injury.

To learn more, contact the attorney directly by calling 888-981-0027 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Key Takeaways From Kathleen M. Reilly:

The first to do after being injured on the job is to inform your employer. Most states require employers to offer some kind of workers’ compensation, a benefits program designed to offer financial assistance with an injured worker’s medical bills and lost wages, while at the same time protecting the employer from a potential lawsuit. However, if an injured person waits to inform their employer of the injury it might affect their eligibility for this compensation.

Beyond emergency care, your employer has the right to authorize your medical care.

After being injured at work, seek emergency medical care if necessary. In general, this should be covered by workers’ compensation. However, if your injury is not severe enough to warrant emergency care or requires additional treatment, your employer will likely choose a medical care provider for you. Employers will often send their injured workers to specific industrial clinics or another healthcare provider they have a contract with to evaluate and treat an employee’s injury.

While the lack of choice in care provider might not seem ideal, it is important to remember that workers’ compensation is designed to compensate an injured person’s medical bills. Additionally, workers’ compensation laws vary from state to state so it’s a good idea to look up the legislation in your area.

In case of a work injury, workers’ compensation might not be your only option.

While in most situations an injured worker is eligible solely for workers’ compensation and no more, there are situations when this is not the case. For example, if a third party caused or contributed to the situation which inflicted the injury, a worker could be eligible to file a third party claim in addition to receiving workers’ compensation benefits. A third party in this situation refers to anyone other than the employer.

Additionally, if gross negligence in regard to worker safety on the part of the employer was involved, a personal injury claim might be viable, though this is not common. It’s important to note that workers’ compensation attorneys recommend filing first for workers’ compensation in order to begin receiving benefits right away, as alternate claims can take longer to resolve.

Contact an attorney for help filing a workers’ compensation claim and to evaluate the potential for a third party claim.

Workers’ compensation attorneys can help guide an injured employee through the process of applying for workers’ compensation benefits, and can also investigate whether a third-party claim might be viable. If so, these attorneys are well-versed in handling these cases and can help collect evidence on your behalf to prove that a third party should be held responsible for at least some of your damages. These attorneys generally work on a contingency fee basis, which means their clients don’t pay unless they win, allowing injured workers to focus on healing rather than stress about paying exorbitant legal bills. Reilly maintains that many people are eligible to file a third party claim and are not even aware that these claims exist.

If you or a loved one were injured at work and need help filing a workers’ compensation claim or want to discuss the possibility of a third party claim, seek legal counsel.

To learn more, contact Kathleen M. Reilly directly by calling 888-981-0027 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

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