Highway work is dangerous and labor-intensive, with the potential for catastrophic or even fatal workplace injuries. As a highway worker in Illinois, you face a host of dangers whenever you’re on the clock, from speeding cars and heavy equipment to toxic materials and long hours under the hot sun. Workplace injuries are common under these difficult circumstances, ranging from minor bruises and cuts to life-changing injuries like amputations, lung damage, or internal organ damage.
Many Illinois highway workers who get hurt on the job are entitled to benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. This law established a program meant to ensure that injured workers have access to quality medical care and wage replacement benefits if they have to miss work to heal from their injuries.
However, being eligible for Illinois worker’s comp benefits and securing them are two different matters. The process of filing a claim can be bureaucratic and confusing, and even if you file yours correctly, your employer or their insurer might try to deny it in an attempt to save themselves money. Rather than attempt to navigate these complexities alone, turn to an experienced Illinois workers’ compensation attorney for highway workers. Contact the Noll Law Office today at (217) 414-8889 for a free consultation with a skilled lawyer to learn about your rights under Illinois workers’ compensation.
What Are the Workers’ Comp Eligibility Criteria for Highway Road Workers?
Highway workers in Illinois are usually eligible to collect workers’ comp benefits if they meet the following criteria:
- You are a legal employee of your employer at the time of your injury (casual employees, independent contractors, and volunteers are typically excluded).
- Your injury arose out of and occurred in the course of your job duties, or you contracted an occupational disease or illness as a result of your work.
- Your employer has workers’ comp coverage. Illinois law requires employers with at least one employee to have workers’ comp coverage, although some employers, like partnerships or sole proprietorships, are excluded.
The Most Common Hazards and Injuries for Illinois Highway Road Workers
You’re probably acquainted with many of the hazards of highway work in Illinois. You may have incurred your injury due to one of these common causes:
- Being involved in or near a vehicle collision
- Using defective or malfunctioning equipment
- Slipping or tripping and falling
- Falling from heights like scaffolding, a bridge, or a bucket
- Harmed in a fire or explosion
- Electrocution
- Being struck by a falling object
Common Highway Road Worker Injuries
Some of the most common injuries Illinois highway workers experience include:
- Broken bones or fractures
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or a concussion
- Strain, sprain, or other soft tissue injury
- Burn injuries
- Lacerations, cuts, and contusions
- Heat stroke or heat stress
- Neck and spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
- Crushing injuries or internal organ damage
- Vision loss or eye injury
- Death
Some workers may suffer multiple serious injuries after an accident, meaning recovery may be long and painful.
What Are the Long-Term Consequences of Common Highway Work Injuries?
Your working conditions can cause long-term stress on your body, causing you to develop an occupational disease or illness, or another chronic medical condition, like:
- Broken bones
- Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries
- Permanent disabilities
- Musculoskeletal disorders, like back strain or shoulder tears
- Permanent vision or hearing loss or compromised vision or hearing
Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Illinois: The Basics
Your health comes first after a workplace injury, so if the injury is serious, seek immediate medical attention. If you go to the ER or call an ambulance, be sure to mention that you’re being seen for a workplace injury.
Once you’ve gotten urgent care treatment and your condition is stable, then follow these steps for filing an Illinois workers’ compensation claim:
- Notify your employer. Although Illinois law gives you up to 45 days from the date of the accident to notify your employer, it’s better to do so as soon as possible. Inform them in writing, and if your employer creates a written incident report, ask for a copy for your records.
- Keep all documentation about the accident. This includes your medical records and bills, copies of your notice to your employer and the incident report, and proof of all time you missed at work because you were healing from your injuries.
- Follow your treatment plan. The doctor you see for workers comp is referred to as your treating physician. Be sure to attend all follow-up appointments and adhere to any physical restrictions until your doctor approves you to engage in more physical activity.
Your employer also has some responsibility for your workers’ compensation claim. They need to file certain documents by specific deadlines so that you start receiving benefits. If your employer isn’t submitting the right paperwork to their insurance carrier, you should get an experienced Springfield, IL, workers comp lawyer involved.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits Available for Highway Road Workers
Your workers’ comp benefits will pay for reasonable and necessary medical treatment, provide partial wage replacement benefits while you can’t work, and help you learn new skills if your injury prevents you from returning to your job as a highway worker.
Available benefits include:
- Medical care benefits. This includes immediate treatment, follow-up appointments, specialist physician appointments, or surgery. It also includes lab work or scans, medication, durable medical equipment, and occupational or physical therapy.
- Job retraining. If you cannot do the same job you had when you were injured, you may be eligible for vocational rehabilitation. Your benefits could cover education, certifications, or other job-related training to help you transition into a different career.
The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act also provides several tiers of disability benefits:
- Temporary Total Disability(TTD). If you cannot work at all after the accident, then you may collect TTD benefits until you can return to work. This weekly benefit is two-thirds of the average weekly wage you earned for the 52 weeks before the accident.
- Temporary Partial Disability(TPD). If you can work light duty or part-time while healing from your injuries and you earn less money than your pre-injury wage, you may be able to collect two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and your current wage.
- Permanent Total Disability(PTD). If you can no longer work at all, you may qualify for permanent total disability benefits. This weekly benefit is two-thirds of your pre-injury average weekly wage and may last the rest of your life. Minimum and maximum rates apply.
- Wage differential benefits. If you have to take a job that pays less than your pre-injury wages, even with your vocational rehabilitation, you could be eligible for a portion of the difference between your old wage and your new one, calculated the same way as TPD benefits.
- Permanent Partial Disability(PPD). PPD benefits are paid for “scheduled losses.” Once your injury has been healed as much as possible, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) could decide what percentage of loss of use of your injured body party has occurred to calculate the benefits you’re entitled to.
Family members of a worker who dies due to a work-related accident or illness may be eligible to collect death benefits. The burial benefit is $8,000. If your loved one was killed while working, contact the Noll Law Office immediately and they can explain the available benefits to you.
What Happens If Your Workers’ Comp Claim Is Denied?
If your valid worker’s comp claim is denied, you have legal options, starting with appealing the decision. For the best results in an appeal, you should hire a lawyer.
- Consulting with a lawyer. An experienced Springfield workers’ comp lawyer will know how to file an appeal.
- Request a hearing. Your lawyer will petition the IWCC for a hearing before an arbitrator. To do so, file a Petition for Immediate Hearing to request a hearing. The petition includes the reasons you believe you have a valid claim and relevant information about the accident and your injuries.
- Present your case at the hearing. Your attorney will present your case before the arbitrator.
If the arbitrator upholds the denial, you may request a review by the IWCC, petitioning to have the decision reviewed by a panel of commissioners. If you are a State of Illinois employee, your claim ends there. If you don’t work for the state and the IWCC rules against you, you have the legal right to take your appeal to the Illinois Circuit Court.
The IWCC sets strict deadlines for appealing denied claims and filing hearing petitions. If you don’t act fast, you could miss your window to appeal the decision and have to live with the denial. A lawyer who knows the right way to prepare an appeal may be able to expedite the process and ensure all the deadlines for filing are met.
How Can the Noll Law Office Help with Your Worker’s Compensation Claim?
Are you an Illinois highway worker who is having difficulty getting a valid workers’ compensation claim approved? Has your claim been denied, and you want to file an appeal? Contact the Noll Law Office today at (217) 414-8889 for a free consultation with a skilled Illinois workers’ comp lawyer for highway workers.