Can You Get Workers’ Compensation If You Didn’t Miss Any Time At Work?

Sometimes, when you are hurt at work, you will require some medical care but won’t miss any time at work. If this is the case for you, you will be eligible for some benefits, but not others.

Medical Benefits

If you are injured at work and need to go to the doctor, you are entitled to have your medical bills covered. If your employer wants you to get checked out by a doctor due to an incident at work, and it turns out you weren’t hurt, those medical bills should still be covered by workers compensation.

No Time Missed?

If you don’t miss any time at work, you will not be eligible to receive money for lost wages. You must actually lose time at work to receive lost wage benefits.

Body Part Seriously Damaged or Lost?

Regardless of whether you miss work, if you suffer an amputation, loss of vision or loss of hearing, you are entitled to what are called “specific benefits.”  These types of benefits provide a specific amount of wages for specific types of injuries. For example, if you lose the first finger on your hand, you are entitled to 56 weeks of wages for this loss.  If you lose your big toe, you are entitled to 52 weeks of wages.

When Should You Consult an Attorney?

In most cases, you will need to consult a workers’ compensation lawyer.

When Not to Contact a Lawyer

If you haven’t missed any work and workers’ compensation is paying  your medical benefits, there really isn’t any reason to speak with a workers’ compensation lawyer.  Hopefully this is the kind of minor injury you experienced.

Missed Two Weeks / No Cooperation?

If you have missed at least two weeks of work or expect to miss this amount of work, or if your employer/workers’ compensation insurance is not cooperating, you should speak with a lawyer.

Loss of a Body Part?

The thing to keep in mind is this, just because you are supposed to receive specific damages for specific kinds of loses doesn’t mean that the workers’ compensation insurance company will pay up. It is worth it to consult with an expert workers’ compensation attorney to help you under these circumstances.