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U.S. residents in states
other than California must be aware that while certain legal principles
outlined on this site may be similar to principles followed in their own
states, laws can vary considerably from state to state. Therefore,
site visitors from foreign countries and other U.S. states should be aware
that the laws of their country or State may differ vary substantially from
the information provided here. Therefore, legal information and/or
specific advice should always be obtained from a local source |
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| It is
a legal system created to protect the rights of employees who had injuries
at work. The injuries can be of different kinds, including both
physical and psychological. |
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| You
should immediately report to your employer, supervisor, boss, foreman,
etc. when and where the injury occurred and what body parts were injured
or what type of injury it was and demand that the employer, supervisor,
boss, foreman, etc. give you a claim form for signature. This will toll
the one year statue of limitation and effectively open your benefit claim
with your employer's insurance carrier. The employer has a legal duty to
cooperate with you in this matter by especially disclosing the identity of
the workers' compensation carrier for benefits. His lack of cooperation
may expose him to penalties and other liability. |
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| As
soon as you opened a claim you are entitled to medical treatment. Your
employer's workers' compensation carrier is responsible for the medical
bills if your case was acknowledged and accepted for liability. The
treatment should be reasonable and necessary and should be ordered by your
primary treating physician. Usually your employer controls your treatment
for the first 30 days and has an obligation to direct you to a doctor's
office. After 30 days you are free to choose your own primary care
provider as long as his or her treatment is reasonable and necessary. In
some cases you may be entitled to choose your doctor even before 30 days. |
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| You
may change your care provider at any point in time if there is a firm
reason for it. This change can be either supervised by your employer or be
your own choice after 30 days from your injury. You may object to your
primary care physician's opinion at any point in time before or after you
were fully discharged. The objection must be timely (within 30 days if not
represented) and will trigger an evaluation with a qualified doctor called
AME or QME and give you another chance for full assessment of your case. |
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| When
that happens you are totally temporarily disabled and entitled to the
temporary disability benefit which is coming to you on bi-weekly basis and
in most of the cases measured by the two-thirds of your gross average
weekly wage. This benefit will end with your permanent and stationary
status which means that your condition has become final and stable and is
no longer a subject to change with or without resulting disability. If you
worked full-time and now you are reduced to part-time then you may be
entitled to partial temporary disability benefit. |
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| If that is the case then you are
entitled to receive the disability benefit on a permanent basis for the
rest of your life. This benefit is called total permanent disability and
has the same value as the temporary disability benefit. |
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| If
you still have disability which manifests itself in permanent work
restrictions imposed on you by your doctor, or objective and subjective
findings, or body function losses, or limitation in motions or activities,
you are entitled to receive the permanent disability benefit which is
measured in money and percentage according to an established schedule and
reflects the loss of your marketable skills. Your final settlement usually
will include your permanent disability together with other benefits that
you may be entitled to. |
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| You
need to participate in vocational rehabilitation which is a program that
helps you to train and acquire new skills or to use your existing skills
in finding a new job or starting a new business. This program is paid by
your employer's insurance carrier. Your participation is not mandatory,
however, you will not receive the benefit if not participating. While
participating you also receive a maintenance allowance, i.e. a benefit
that supports you financially for the duration of rehabilitation.
In cases of injuries that happened on or after 01/01/2003 you could also
settle the rehabilitation benefit for a lump sum, instead of directly
participating. In cases that happened on or after 01/01/2004 you might be
limited to only receiving a tuition voucher for a school of your choice.
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| You may be entitled to life-time
pension or even total permanent disability. |
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| You
are entitled to mileage reimbursement. |
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| Your
dependents, usually spouse, minor children and anybody who was actually
supported by you, will be entitled to the death benefit the measure of
which is regulated by the Labor Code. |
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| No.
This system has its own benefits, like temporary and permanent disability
or vocational rehabilitation and does not recognize the traditional civil
remedies. |
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| If
they terminated you due to your injury at work you may be entitled to the
award of penalties and loss of wages in addition to the usual workers'
compensation benefits. |
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| You
may be entitled to the award of penalties if you were injured due to
safety violations or your employer's reckless disregard for your safety in
addition to the benefits under this system. |
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| You
need to try the case to establish your employer's liability in front of
the workers' compensation judge. Here it is highly recommended that you
consult an attorney right away. |
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| No.
However, you might consider hiring one, if your claim has been denied, if
your benefits are delayed or paid at the wrong rate, if you do not know
what is the right measure of your benefits or whether the settlement that
is being offered is just, if you are unsuccessful in changing your care
provider or getting the requested medical evaluation, if you were fired or
injured due to some safety violation, if you feel you cannot do your job
and need to be trained but vocational rehabilitation is refused, if you
have to appear in front of the judge on any disputed issue, or if you are
a dependent unsure of your rights under the death benefit system. |
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| Yes,
you may apply for welfare, EDD unemployment, SDI disability unemployment,
Medical, SSI or other federal and state benefits. You, of course, have a
duty to fully disclose the amounts of benefits received in the past or
currently paid from your workers' compensation carrier.
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Disclaimer
Notice: Making a false or fraudulent
workers' compensation claim is a felony subject to up to 5 years in prison
or a fine of up to $50,000.00 or double the value of the fraud, whichever
is greater, or by both imprisonment and fine. |
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