Our St. Louis Lawyers Explain Your Rights to Workers' Compensation Benefits for Your Workplace Injuries in Missouri and Illinois and How We Can Help You Get Them
If you were injured at your job in Illinois or Missouri, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. However, your employer's workers' comp insurance company could deny your claim or try to pay you less benefits than you deserve. Our experienced legal team at Bollwerk & Associates can explain your rights and fight with the insurance company so that you receive the benefits you deserve to pay for your medical bills and to replace your wages while you’re off work recovering from your injuries.
What Are Your Rights to Workers Compensation Benefits After an Injury at Your Workplace in Missouri?
In Missouri, employers are required to provide workers' compensation benefits if they employ five or more employees. You should be paid workers' compensation benefits if you were hurt while at your job or exposed to an occupational disease, such as cancer, arising out of and in the course of your employment.
Workers' comp benefits are available to reimburse you for your medical expenses to treat your work-related injuries or disease and to replace a portion of your income you lose while you are recovering from your injuries. Under Illinois and Missouri workers’ comp laws, in exchange for being entitled to workers' comp benefits, you waive your right to sue your employer for negligence.
Types of Workers' Compensation Benefits You Should Receive in Missouri
You need to understand the types of workers' comp benefits you should receive because you unfortunately cannot trust your employer's insurance company to treat you fairly. The first type of benefit you should recover is medical benefits. These benefits should pay for all the medical treatments you need to treat your injuries or disease, including the following:
Doctor visits
Diagnostic tests
Medications
Surgeries
Hospitalizations
Physical therapy
You should also get wage loss benefits. Without the assistance of our St. Louis workers' compensation lawyers, it can be confusing to understand which type of benefits you should receive. Here are the types of benefits we can help you recover.
Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) Benefits
You're entitled to temporary partial disability benefits if you were hurt at your job but can work in some capacity while you are receiving medical treatments. For example, you may not be able to do your current job but could work part-time at a light-duty position.
Your TPD benefit would be two-thirds of the difference between your average wages before you were injured and what you earn during your recovery period. You are entitled to TPD benefits for up to 100 weeks.
Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) Benefits
You may be entitled to TPD benefits if you cannot work at all while recovering from your injuries. You should be paid two-thirds of your average weekly wages for up to 400 weeks.
Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) Benefits
Unfortunately, you could suffer an injury or a disease that you will never fully recover from. If you can still work, you should receive permanent partial disability benefits. Calculating the amount you should get is very complicated without a workers' compensation attorney’s help.
PPD benefits can not be calculated until you reach your maximum medical improvement, which is when you have healed as much as you will, and your doctor can give you a rating. A rating is the percentage of how much your injury affects the use of your injured body party. This rating is multiplied by Missouri's schedule of losses and your average weekly pay to determine your PPD benefits.
Permanent Total Disability (PTD) Benefits
If you suffer a total permanent disability that prevents you from working at any job, you should receive PTD benefits. These would be the amount of your temporary total disability payment for the rest of your life.
