Being injured at work can be a traumatic experience. It is natural for injured workers to worry about their health and job security. The law is intended to compensate injured workers for lost wages, permanent disability and provide necessary medical care. The system encourages injured workers to focus on healing and returning to work.
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system of benefits paid by employers to workers who experience job-related injuries or diseases. The state Workers’ Compensation Commission operates the state court system for workers’ compensation cases. A case is first tried by an arbitrator, whose decision may be reviewed by a panel of three commissioners.
Almost every employee who is hired, injured or whose employment is localized in Illinois is covered by the workers’ compensation statutes. In most instances, the law covers even those injuries that are caused, in whole or in part, by the employee’s work. Additionally, a worker who had a pre-existing condition may receive benefits if he or she can show that the work aggravated his or her condition.
Injured workers are not required to hire an attorney to prosecute a workers’ compensation claim, but they must be warned that their employers will almost invariably hire legal counsel to limit the value of their claim. Our firm handles workers’ compensation cases on a contingency fee, which means that no attorney’s fee is earned unless we recover a judgment in your favor. Attorneys fees are capped by statute at 20 percent of the recovery.
Information taken from Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission website.