What Kind of Benefits Can I Get When I File an Illinois Workers’ Compensation Claim?

Workers can receive pay for the time that they miss from work, which is called Temporary Total Disability (TTD), provided the worker obtains a doctor’s consent. This is based on a percentage of their average weekly earnings and is generally 2/3 of that amount. In addition, medical care is 100% covered as long as it considered reasonable and necessary, including the following medical services: emergency rooms, ambulances, hospitals, doctors, and even rehabilitation training potentially. Permanent partial or total disability, as well as disfigurement, that resulted from a work-related injury or illness may be compensated with long-term payments or a one-time lump sum. In the case of a work-related death, the family of the deceased worker is entitled to benefits as well.

Generally, you cannot sue your employer for injuries that you sustained because of a work-related incident. However, there are certain exceptions to this broad mandate. First, you can still sue third parties such as tool manufacturers, premises owners, and contractors. Second, if your employer served you in another capacity and injured you in that pursuit, you can sue it for damages in that regard. Third, you can sue your employer for intentional torts like battery, defamation, or conversion. Note, though, that the general rule is that you cannot sue your employer for workplace harms.

A lot of lawyers try and give clients specific number estimates for what their Illinois workers’ compensation claims could fetch in arbitration. We try and avoid doing this. We don’t normally do it for several reasons but primarily because they rely too much on past cases. This is detrimental because your case is not influenced by them so neither should your prediction be. Instead, we focus on calculating the costs and suffering that your individual incident created. We believe this analysis will bring you closer than an over reliance on previous claims.