In Pennsylvania, the various differing natures of work and work environments pose many dangers to employees. This exposure to risk can result in physical and even mental injury to workers. Statistics in the United States reveal many recorded cases of injured workers that occur in different economic sectors. However, many employees who work these jobs or even employees who are represented in Unions remain ignorant of their rights even after they suffer their work injury. In some instances, some injured workers remain at home relying on the care of their family and their own private health insurance, while their employer and/or their workers’ compensation carrier have ignored or denied your claim.
Injured Pennsylvania workers have the right to file a claim petition on any denied claim, and pursue wage loss and medical benefits for their work injury. They also have the right to file other petitions for loss of use (amputations and scarring); reinstatement of benefits, (where they were once paid workers’ compensation wage loss benefits, then those benefits stopped and need to be started again, depending on the circumstances; petitions for review of the accepted injury to add in all of the correct injuries so that they are covered by workers’ compensation, and penalty petitions for any violation by the employer or their workers’ compensation carrier of the workers’ compensation act. These are just a few examples of the various petitions that can be filed on the injured workers’ behalf. Most importantly though is that injured workers have the absolute right to be represented by an attorney of their choosing.
There are many benefits to having legal representation in a workers’ compensation case. An experienced workers’ compensation lawyer can work to help you receive wage loss benefits, at the correct rate that you may be entitled to, help you obtain those benefits quicker, obtain necessary and adequate medical treatment for your work injury, or even help you settle your case with terms you agree on.
In order for workers to obtain workers’ compensation benefits, they must rely on the employer, who is legally obligated to carry workers’ compensation insurance for their workers. Once the work injury occurs, the injured worker must notify their employer of the same, then the employer is to report the same to the workers’ compensation carrier, just like individuals report motor vehicle accidents to their car insurance companies. Once the injury claim is reported, the compensation carrier has 21 days to deny, accept, or temporarily accept the work injury. Depending on their action, the injured worker then must take action if their claim is denied or only temporarily accepted. Here is the time to find the right lawyer to pursue the injured workers’ case.
In summary, the injured worker starts the process with notice to the employer, which is a must to win on any claim. After that, the employer acts by reporting the claim to the carrier, now it is the carrier’s turn to act….accept, deny, or temporarily accept. Based on the carrier’s actions, the injured worker is back up to bat and it is up to them to pursue the claim further. Read More
