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When you sustain an injury in the workplace or in the scope of your work, you have the right to file a workers’ compensation claim. If approved, you will receive weekly payments to make up for your inability to work. You should have a good understanding of your workers’ compensation checks in Oak Lawn and where they come from. A compassionate workers’ compensation attorney could be helpful in confirming that these checks are being sent properly.
Most employers have workers’ compensation insurance who will pay an injured employee while they are off work from an injury. These workers’ comp checks will come from the insurance company, not the employer. Typically, checks are mailed out on a weekly basis and some insurance companies allow for direct deposit. This is the recommended option as it avoids the situation of checks being lost in the mail, and other hassles. There may be instances where some employers, rather than submitting a claim to their worker’s compensation insurance carrier, will directly pay the injured person if the injury appears minor.
It is unlikely that someone in Oak Lawn will receive their first worker’s compensation check at the same time they would have received their normal paycheck. It often takes up to 30 days to begin receiving disability checks. The employer has to report the injury to their insurance company who will then set up the claim. Even though the work injury may seem obvious, the insurance company has the right to investigate and contest the claim. Once the claim has been approved, the worker will receive a check for all the time that they missed.
When an Oak Lawn worker is injured on the job, they are entitled to be paid in the form of weekly checks as compensation, with some exceptions. First, workers’ compensation does not have to pay for the first three days the worker has missed, but if the worker is off for more than two weeks, then those first three days will be accounted for. If the person returns to work within two weeks of the injury, the law does not require that they be paid for those first three days.
Second, workers’ compensation is allowed a reasonable time to investigate the work injury, which could ultimately delay payment. Finally, the insurer could claim a defense, forcing a lawyer to go to court to get the checks sent out.
Workers’ compensation will pay someone two-thirds of their average weekly wage (AWW) while they are not working. Federal and state taxes do not apply to these checks. There may still be deductions for union dues, health insurance, child support, et cetera. A person does not pay taxes on the money they receive from worker’s compensation. When tax filing season comes, they will receive a W-2 only for the time that they worked, not the time that they were on compensation.
Workers’ comp is not something that everybody goes through, so you may have questions about how it works. Reach out to a lawyer for guidance on how to navigate this occasionally complicated system. It is critical that you can receive your workers’ compensation checks in Oak Lawn without conflict.