There is a system in place in the United States called “workers’ compensation,” which is meant to protect anyone who has a dangerous job. If any employee is injured while working, workers’ comp ensures that all injury-related expenses will be fully compensated. However, the system is a little more complicated in practice than it is in theory. You probably have a lot of questions about workers’ comp. For instance, you may be wondering how much work you need to miss as a result of your injury to qualify for compensation. This guide will have your answer.
How Long Do You Have To Be out of Work?
You may be surprised to learn that the amount of time that you miss work does not impact workers’ comp eligibility in any way. If you miss several months of work, or even if you do not have to leave for an entire day, you can still be fully compensated. In fact, if you do not miss any work at all to still be fully compensated. However, workers’ comp only covers expenses that result from the injury. This means that to qualify, you need to have lost some amount of money due to the injury. You do not necessarily need to go to the hospital to be eligible, but the most common expenses that are compensated are hospital bills.
Workers’ comp does not provide any compensation for pain and suffering, or any other form of general compensatory damages, which are losses without an objective financial value. It is not possible to profit through workers’ comp. The goal is to return you to the financial situation you were in prior to the injury. Things that can be compensated include:
- Hospital bills
- Missed wages
- Miscellaneous expenses
- Loss of earning ability
Missing Work
Workers’ comp provides compensation for the pay you were unable to receive due to missing work. Whether you missed a few days or a few weeks, you will receive an amount of compensation that makes it as if you did not miss a single day of work. Your paychecks, plus the compensation, should equal the exact amount of money you earn in an average month.
As one final note on workers’ compensation, it is possible to wait too long before filing your claim. You should report the injury to your employer as soon as you can. If you wait too long, the claim may be ineligible. If that happens you can appeal the decision, but you probably will not receive any compensation. Talk to a workers’ compensation attorney, like a Newark workers’ compensation attorney, if you have any questions about whether or not you qualify for workers’ comp.
Thanks to Rispoli & Borneo, P.C. for their insight into how long you need to be out of work to qualify for workers’ compensation.