Death Benefits for City of Chicago Workers

Workers’ Compensation Lawyers for Surviving Families in Chicago

It is tragic to lose your loved one to an accident. After a fatal accident, family members face practical considerations on top of grieving their loss. They may be concerned about how they’ll pay for the funeral, and if the decedent earned money, they’ll likely be worried about paying the mortgage, groceries, and medical bills. There are a number of jobs with the City of Chicago that entail heightened levels of risk. If your loved one was a City of Chicago worker who had a job-related death, you can consult a dedicated Chicago workers’ compensation attorney regarding your eligibility for death benefits.

Death Benefits for City of Chicago Workers

In Illinois, employers may be self-insured rather than insured by a workers’ compensation insurance company. The City of Chicago is one such employer. It doesn’t pay premiums to get workers’ compensation insurance that covers its employees. Instead, it is able to pay workers’ compensation claims directly.

If your loved one dies as a result of a work-related accident in Chicago, you should immediately notify his or her supervisor in writing. Sometimes the death occurs on the job, and in that case, it’s still important to give written notice.

There are situations in which family members of public employees who died on the job or as a result of a work accident are denied workers’ compensation benefits. The City may claim the death didn’t occur as a result of a job-related injury, or it may claim that your loved one violated City policy. The City has more resources than most of its employees do, and can mount a strong fight against death benefits if it chooses. It is advisable to talk to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney about your situation if you think you may be eligible for death benefits.

Who Gets Death Benefits?

Workers’ compensation death benefits for City of Chicago workers are meant to provide for dependents of an employee who is killed in a work-related accident. In Illinois, the first in line to be able to receive death benefits are a spouse and minor kids. When there is no spouse and there are no minor kids, any parents who were economic dependents of the person who was killed may be able to get benefits. When there aren’t any surviving parents, those who were at least 50% dependent on the worker who died might still be able to get benefits.

If a beneficiary is a surviving spouse, the spouse may obtain benefits until remarriage. When no children under age 18 exist at the time of the remarriage, the surviving spouse is able to get a single payment including 2 years of compensation before the benefits cease. However, when there’s a remarriage and there are children under 18 in the household, the death benefits can continue.

Types of Benefits

There are two types of death benefits. The first is funeral and burial benefits. If your loved one was killed in a work-related accident while working for the City of Chicago, you should get a benefit to cover funeral costs up to $8000.

The other type of benefit is for survivors to compensate for income lost because of a family member’s death on the job. You can get 2/3 of what your family member earned, on average, each week for the year before her death. There are maximum and minimum thresholds, and if the benefits are the result of a decision by an arbitrator, you may be able to get annual cost of living adjustments (COLA).

Compassionate Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Serving Chicago

If you have questions about death benefits related to a City of Chicago worker who died on the job, you can talk to an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, we represent workers in Champaign, Aurora, Rockford, and Quincy, as well as Cook, Winnebago, Sangamon, Kane, and Adams Counties. We can also examine the circumstances surrounding the worker’s injury or death to figure out whether other options are also available to you. For example, if a third party was at fault, it may be appropriate to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit in addition to workers’ compensation. Contact us at 312-724-5846 or by completing our online form.