A serious accident at work can leave you with devastating burn injuries and with no chance to return to work anytime soon. With paychecks disappearing, victims will have to worry about medical bills and how to support their families.
Maison Law of Merced stands with workers after they’ve suffered a burn injury. We make sure victims earn what they need to recover physically and financially. Workers with the same injuries can receive very different levels of Workers’ Comp benefits. We want to make sure you secure everything possible so that you can focus on recovery and not on how you’ll make ends meet.
You can schedule a free legal consultation with a real lawyer. There’s no obligation. It’s a no-risk way to determine what your injury is worth and how to earn the most in benefits from California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation.
How Can a Lawyer Improve the Outcome of My Workers’ Comp Claim?
You should go over your case with a Merced Workers’ Compensation Lawyer if your accident or injuries aren’t being treated seriously by your employer.
Talk to a lawyer if you believe Workers’ Compensation won’t provide enough to pay all of your hospital expenses and cost-of-living expenses while you can’t work. Talk to a lawyer if you fear California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) will try to force you back to work before you are fully healed.
These are just a few of the benefits that can help you earn more when you have a lawyer on your side:
- Compiles and files your Workers’ Compensation Claim for you
- Investigates your accident, your workplace, and your employer’s actions
- Defends you against false accusations if Workers’ Comp attempts to portray your injury as less serious than it is
- Defends you against false accusations if Workers’ Comp or your company tries to claim you were at fault for your own injury
- Negotiates for a higher settlement on your behalf
- Appears before Workers’ Compensation administrators and judges on your behalf
- Represents you before a Workers’ Compensation Judge and makes sure your side of the story is heard
- Handles the entire frustrating process while giving you time to focus on getting better
- Files lawsuits if an employer makes threats toward you or fires you for reporting an accident
California doesn’t allow business owners to threaten or fire employees simply because they got hurt or reported an accident. Employers also can’t threaten to turn workers over to immigration agents because they spoke up about an accident.
Resource for Injured Workers: The guidebook provided by the California Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains a few other reasons you may want to trust your case to a lawyer.
Burn Injury Risk on the Job in Merced
Merced is a busy place where plenty of people perform hard work each day. They may work in construction or work on farms and orchards, or on ranches. They may work in manufacturing or packing plants. These jobs all carry extra danger and put workers at risk of major accidents.
Even those working in retail or in an office can face hazards when their employers don’t make safety a priority. When employees are hurt, they shouldn’t have to wonder if the State of California and their employers will help them.
These are just a few of the ways California workers get hurt each year:
- Vehicle Burns – Workers who hit the road for a living can suffer burns in vehicle fires and around a super-heated metal part, perhaps on a produce truck or delivery van. Truck drivers may be burned if they attempt to open their hoods.
- Contact with Flames or Explosions – Being allowed too close to an open flame on a construction site or on a farm could leave victims with terrible wounds. A gas leak may lead to a dangerous explosion.
- Chemical Burns — A burn may appear after exposure to a harmful chemical used in agriculture or in a manufacturing plant.
- Machinery and Tool Burns – The machines that workers are forced to use or the tools they rely on could malfunction and burn them.
- Scalding Burns — Hot steam being vented or even in places where very hot water is in use. Hot oils in use can also pose risk. Employees at a restaurant or a factory where vents are left unprotected may become victims.
- Electrical Burns — Businesses and job sites are also common spots for electrical burns when wiring is left exposed or a piece of machinery isn’t properly grounded.
- Smoke Inhalation and Lung Burns – Super-heated smoke can damage the air passages for any worker who accidentally breathes in fumes. This smoke can also carry chemicals that can do additional damage to the lungs.
Your lawyer works with your doctors and surgeons to determine what your cost of treatment is and what it may be in the months and years ahead. Every cent must be covered by the Workers’ Compensation insurance provider that your boss pays into. When the DWC offers too small a settlement, your attorney helps you reject it and demand more.
Finding Support for Injured Workers After a Burn Accident
Your Maison Law attorney works to secure the most for your injury possible. In some cases, you’ll receive benefits that you may not have known were available.
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 and their families could receive:
- Medical Care. Paid for by your employer, 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. The cost of skin grafts and reconstructive surgeries might be covered.
- 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.
- 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.
- Death Benefits. The families of victims are eligible for Workers’ Compensation support if a loved one is killed in a workplace accident or passes away due to an illness contracted on the job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer for California Workers’ Compensation if I’m a union member?
Yes, in some cases. Union workers still draw from Workers’ Compensation when injured, but they also receive additional benefits through union membership. A lawyer might still make a difference in how much victims receive from Workers’ Comp, and will be checking to make sure employers provide all benefits and protections that must be extended to union members.
Do I need a lawyer for California Workers’ Compensation if I’m not a U.S. citizen?
Yes, in some cases. Workers are eligible for support under the California Workers’ Compensation system regardless of their immigration status or undocumented worker status. Maison Law can help many victims secure more in support for their families.
When should I report my injury at work?
Immediately. Alert your supervisor as soon as you are injured. If you wait longer than 30 days to inform your employer of an injury, you may lose your chance to file a claim. Then, victims can wait no longer than a year from the date of the accident to file a claim with California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation. This may be done by the employee, but an employer can also help the employee file a claim.
Contact a Merced County Workers’ Compensation Attorney
The most important outcome is that you can count on the most support possible through Workers’ Compensation as you recover. A Merced Workers’ Compensation Lawyer provides the best chance to do that. Workers who suffer serious burn injuries and who lose their ability to support their families must get every benefit possible now and in the future. Maison Law can help untangle the options and get injured workers on track to rebuild their lives and their careers.
There’s an easy way to find out which path offers you the fastest route to the support you and your family desperately need. Speak to Maison Law in a free, no-obligation consultation. We want to hear about what happened to you and then help you determine the best course of action for your family.
