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Staffing Companies
Lawyers for Temps and Other Workers Hired Through Staffing Agencies
Temporary and temporary-to-permanent hires tend to be injured or made sick on the job more frequently than permanent employees are. In some cases, serious or fatal injuries are the result of inadequate job training. Often temporary workers in Illinois do not have the same degree of experience as workers who are immediately hired for permanent positions. If you were hired through a staffing agency and were injured in the workplace, you may feel uncertain about what to do about your injuries. You should be aware that you may be able to pursue a claim against the staffing company, which will be handled by its insurer. Unfortunately, not all claims are handled fairly. You should call the seasoned Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca to represent you. We seek the best available outcome and examine the circumstances to determine whether other relief is appropriate.
Staffing Companies
Staffing companies place Chicago workers in many different jobs in a range of industries. These include secretarial jobs, as well as factory and construction jobs. Although you may not perform your work directly for a staffing agency, when you are hired through a staffing agency, you may have an employment relationship with it that allows you to claim workers’ compensation benefits. When you are injured on the job, it is the lending employer, the staffing agency, not the borrowing employer, its client, who can be liable for the injuries you sustain on the job.
Under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, injured workers can recover benefits through their employers; the law provides this is an exclusive remedy, which means you can’t sue your employer for damages. You might assume that your staffing agency’s client, the company that borrowed you, is your employer. Not so. Both the staffing company and its client are shielded from liability from courtroom litigation, but the staffing company is treated as your employer and is accountable for the benefits to which you’re entitled because of work-related injuries.
Course of Employment
Your injuries are compensable, only when they arise out of and in the course of employment by the lending employer. However, establishing an injury occurred in the course of employment may be more difficult than you realize, particularly if you work on more than one job or with more than one staffing agency.
On the other hand, you are entitled to benefits even when the connection to work is a little more tenuous; you do not need to be injured in an acute accident while performing a specific work task for your injuries to count. For example, if you are a Chicago secretary who needs to go to the office cafeteria for lunch and while there, you slip on a banana peel fracturing your wrist and ankle, you may be able to get benefits because the break was incidental to your employment.
A lending employer is one whose business involves providing employees to or for other employees to perform the work of other employers and who pay those employers their salaries or wages notwithstanding their performance of the work of other employers. Factors used to determine whether you are lending employer include how you were hired, the way you’re paid, the right to be discharged, the way your services are directed and the terms of your written contract.
Benefits
The benefits our lawyers can obtain as a result of your work-related injuries depend on their nature and severity. Generally, however, benefits do not cover the full scope of your losses after you suffer serious injuries on the job. They may include reasonable and necessary medical treatment, disability benefits, therapy, rehabilitation, and vocational rehabilitation. Disability benefits are calculated as a portion of your average weekly wage.
Lawyers for Benefits and Third-Party Lawsuits
In addition to obtaining workers’ compensation benefits from the staffing company that employs you, it may be appropriate to bring a third-party lawsuit against a defendant not associated with the lending or borrowing companies for which you work. The staffing company will have subrogation rights in a damages award against a third party.
Consult a Seasoned Attorney for Injured Staffing Workers
Our Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers represent employees of staffing companies in Quincy, Champaign, Rockford, and Aurora, along with Kane, Cook, Winnebago, Sangamon, and Adams Counties. We also handle Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims and third-party lawsuits. We will consider whether it’s appropriate to pursue these other forms of relief when reviewing a prospective client’s case. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.