Maison Law of California stands ready to help anyone injured by overexerting themselves while on the job. Workers’ compensation support helps San Jose victims hurt at work, but not every victim is treated fairly. Not everyone receives the same amount of support. We want to make sure every victim has the money to pay every medical bill and support their families.
Contact us today for a free consultation to learn more about your options that may go beyond standard workers’ comp benefits.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Suffering an Overexertion Injury at Work?
Overexertion of your back and joints can lead to many weeks or months of pain and leave you unable to go back to a strenuous job. In order to get the right medical care to heal and to keep paying your monthly bills while you can’t work, you’re going to need major support.
California workers’ compensation can provide that support, but that support isn’t guaranteed. You’ll need to provide strong proof that your injury was suffered at work and caused by your duties on the job. You may even have to prove that your employer has provided unsafe workspace and not provided proper safety equipment.
Employers and their Workers’ Comp Insurers will try to deny these claims simply to save money, even after you’ve sacrificed your wellbeing to complete your job.
They’ll try to blame your accident on you or try to downplay how bad your injury is. Your San Jose Workers’ Compensation Lawyer can act as a powerful shield for you and stand up for your rights in the face of small and giant businesses and even the State of California.
Your lawyer can also provide these benefits and more:
- Demand much more in compensation for your injury than you might have been able to secure yourself.
- Fully investigate your workplace accident and collect medical evidence while working with doctors.
- Force employers to take your injury seriously.
- Protect you from false allegations made up by your employer or insurance adjusters.
- Make sure you receive adequate lifetime support after suffering a permanent disability.
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains further why you could need a lawyer for your case.
Overexertion Injuries on the Job
Many San Jose workers put more than just their time into their jobs. In certain jobs, some employees must strain to perform physical tasks that are hard on the human body. Workers may be asked to lift objects that are too heavy for one person or be asked to hold their bodies in a position for too long. This stress, strain, and fatigue can lead to overexertion which might lead to more serious musculoskeletal injuries.
Victims may work in a warehouse where lifting heavy objects is part of the day. They may report to a construction site each day to heft large tools and hold them in place for long periods. Farmworkers may be out in the elements, asked to perform hard physical tasks each day. The risk is also present in office jobs or retail employment when employees are asked to carry items that are too heavy for them to safely lift. These injuries can happen in any career.
These are just a few of the risks of overexertion injuries in any job:
- Lifting heavy products and heavy tools
- Straining to push or pull items
- Being asked to remain in the same bodily position for long periods
- Repetitive motion tasks
Holding Your Employer Responsible After an Overexertion Injury
Employers benefit from this hard work, but they can also deny their responsibility when a worker goes down with an injury caused by overexertion. However, employers are responsible for providing safe workplaces and proper safety equipment when it can help. Employees shouldn’t have to ask for help with tasks that no one should have to perform alone.
Victims may be unable to get out of bed without help, let alone go to work each day. They can seek help to pay their medical bills and support their families through Workers’ Compensation. Unfortunately, employers often fight to accept responsibility for injured workers. Their Workers’ Compensation Insurers may provide some support, but workers later end up having to pay for some of their recovery costs out-of-pocket.
Maison Law’s Workers’ Comp Attorneys can take up your fight and ensure you receive absolutely everything you need to recover physically and financially after an injury. Your attorney will be aggressively negotiating for more in support for you, while you are left free to focus on getting better.
Your lawyer can represent you if your case must be decided by California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation. Your lawyer can also prepare a strong lawsuit if an employer was grossly negligent in allowing you to get hurt.
Winning Compensation for Injured San Jose Overexertion Accident Victims
Your lawyer would file a Workers’ Comp claim that included every hardship you experienced. That includes the damages you absorb now (medical bills, lost time at work) and the damages in the future (a permanent disability, a potential flare-up of your injury, help finding a new career).
The DIR Injured Worker’s Handbook goes over all the different types of support available through a claim. This is a look at some of the support victims could receive:
- Medical Care. Paid for by your employer’s Workers’ Comp insurance provider to help you recover from an injury or illness caused by work. This includes doctor visits and other treatment services, tests, medicines, equipment, and travel costs reasonably necessary to treat your injury.
- Temporary Disability Benefits. Payments if you lose wages because your injury prevents you from doing your usual job while recovering.
- Permanent Disability Benefits. Payments if you don’t recover completely and your injury causes a permanent loss of physical or mental function that a doctor can measure.
- Death Benefits. Payments to your spouse, children, or other dependents if you die from a job injury or illness.
- Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit. A voucher to help pay for retraining or skill enhancement if you are eligible to receive permanent disability benefits, your employer doesn’t offer you work, and you don’t return to work for your employer. This benefit is available for workers injured in 2004 or later. If your injury also occurred in 2013 or later and you received a Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit, you may also be eligible for an additional, one-time payment under the Return-to-Work Supplement Program.
What Are Important Deadlines for a Workers’ Compensation Claim?
The first deadline that applies to your injury is the one that involves informing your employer. You must let your employer or a manager know immediately about any injury. If you wait longer than a month to alert your manager, it may allow your employer to refuse Workers’ Compensation assistance.
The second important deadline involves filing a claim (usually with the help of your employer) with California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation. You’ll usually have up to one year from the date of the accident to file a claim. In some cases, the one-year deadline counts down from the day the worker learns of an injury or illness. The deadline could be extended if the victim is under the age of 18.
Contact a Santa Clara County Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Employees who are hurt in the workplace should never be afraid to speak up. They’ve hurt themselves while sacrificing their safety and physical wellbeing for their companies, and those companies must be there for them now that they are hurt.
Speak to Maison Law in a free consultation. We want to hear about what happened to you and then help you determine the best course of action for your family. We also want to make sure you earn the maximum in benefits for your family while you are down with an injury.
If you do need us to earn more for your claim, Maison Law’s San Jose Workers’ Compensation Lawyers work on a contingency basis. It means there are no upfront costs to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our attorney’s fee comes out of the Workers’ Compensation support you receive.
