WORKERS COMPENSATION APPEALS

CHICAGO LAW FIRMS FOR INJURED STAFFING COMPANY EMPLOYEES

When you’re injured on the job, you are entitled to apply for workers’ compensation benefits. Most Illinois employers are required to procure workers’ compensation insurance, and their insurers pay out claims for work-related injuries and illnesses. Among the employers required to obtain this insurance are staffing agencies. As a temporary worker staffed to a particular project or job, you may not be aware that the staffing agency, rather than the company that provides the work, is your employer and required to obtain this important insurance. If you encounter resistance when you give the staffing company notice or your claim is denied, it is important to retain an experienced Chicago staffing company lawyer that can seek best results to help you and your family. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, we advocate for workers employed by a staffing company who need benefits, and we examine their situations to determine whether other relief, such as a personal injury lawsuit or Social Security Disability Insurance claim, would be proper. Our attorneys can make sure your workers’ compensation appeal is handled appropriately.

STAFFING COMPANIES

Staffing companies in or around Chicago that hire you should obtain workers’ compensation insurance to cover you in case you get injured or sick on the job. When figuring out whether you’re entitled to benefits, it is appropriate to look at whether your injuries were sustained in the course of employment. They have to be job-related, and in some cases, staffing companies and their insurers try to fight a claim by arguing it’s not job-related.

Our attorneys will need to show the causal connection between your injuries and your work when trying to get you benefits for injuries arising out of chronic work stresses. This can be more straightforward if you’ve been on long term job as a temp, but more complicated if you have been moving from job to job and your job duties have been different at each one. Similarly, because you don’t work at the staffing agency’s own site, the agency may not have easy access to information about the conditions that resulted in your injuries the way its client, the company where you report to work, does, and dispute the claim for that reason.

The evidence presented to the arbitrator can make a big difference to your appeals in the event he or she decides against you or doesn’t provide full benefits, which is one reason it is critical to retain counsel early on; our involvement at the initial stages can allow us to help you avoid drawn-out appeals. Additionally, our familiarity with our situation can help us to draft an informal appeals letter as appropriate.

Sometimes, an arbitrator sides with a worker, but the staffing company or its insurer appeal the arbitrator’s decision or that of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. You, too, have the opportunity to appeal if you disagree with a decision.

PROCEDURE FOR APPEALS

The first step after a client receives a denial of some or all benefits, is for our attorneys to file a claim with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. The arbitrator for this proceeding will resolve issues that cannot be resolved with the staffing company’s insurer alone. Trial preparation can involve significant amounts of work to reach resolution.

Both you and a Chicago staffing company that employs you have the opportunity to appeal the arbitrator’s decision when you disagree. Our lawyers appeal adverse decisions about our clients’ cases to a panel of three commissioners at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. They look at the evidence supporting the decision, and the decision itself. There is a hearing. At it, we will argue for our client’s position, as will legal counsel for both the staffing company and insurer before a decision is rendered.

When an appeal is resolved in your favor, interest will be added to the award.

ISSUES AT APPEAL

Credibility can affect the outcome of a workers’ compensation appeal. Sometimes the staffing agency and its insurer ask an injured worker to get an independent medical exam, which is, despite its name, not necessarily objective. It is critical to retain a lawyer that understands how to mount a good case from the beginning of the case to ensure the best available outcome on appeal.

CONSULT A SEASONED STAFFING WORKER LAW FIRM

Our Chicago workers’ compensation attorneys represent employees of staffing companies in appeals 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 and consider whether it’s appropriate to pursue these when reviewing a prospective client’s case. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.