Santa Ana Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Under California law, every employer that operates in the Golden State must purchase and maintain workers’ compensation insurance coverage for every one of their full-time and part-time employees. If you sustain any physical injury or illness as a direct result of conditions you faced while performing job-related tasks, you should be able to seek various economic benefits on a no-fault basis through your employer’s workers’ compensation plan.  Even if your employer does not carry workers’ compensation insurance, you can still make a claim and receive benefits through the Uninsured Employers Benefit Trust Fund.

Even though there is no need to prove someone specific is to blame for a work-related injury or illness in order to receive benefits, making the most of your workers’ comp claim can still be a deceptively tricky endeavor. Enlisting the help of a seasoned legal representative might make the process smoother. Working with a knowledgeable Santa Ana workers’ compensation lawyer could make a tremendous difference not only in the amount of compensation you get in the short term, but also in how well you are able to protect your future prospects after a workplace accident.

What Benefits Can Workers’ Compensation Provide?

There are five main categories of benefits that the typical workers’ compensation policy can provide for injured or ill employees in Santa Ana. First and foremost, workers who get hurt on the job in California are entitled to compensation for all relevant and reasonable medical expenses necessitated by their injury or illness, including the costs of supplemental treatment like physical therapy and prescription medications.

Additionally, workers whose condition prevents them from working for a short period of time may be eligible for temporary disability benefits, which generally equate to two-thirds of the filing worker’s average weekly working income up to a prescribed maximum. These temporary benefits can be paid out for up to 104 weeks over five years in most situations and for up to 240 weeks for especially severe injuries and illnesses. Likewise, permanent disability benefits and life pension payments may be available if a worker’s injury or illness permanently hinders their ability to hold gainful employment.

If a workplace injury or illness leaves an employee unable to ever return to their old job, workers’ comp may provide them with a $6,000 Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit to help them obtain new education and/or work training. Finally, if an employee passes away directly or indirectly because of a workplace accident or illness, their surviving spouse and/or dependents can seek death benefits through their family member’s workers’ comp policy. A Santa Ana Workers Compensation attorney could provide further clarification during a private consultation about what benefits a particular worker’s circumstances might entitle them to receive.

Steps to Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim

It is always best practice for employees to report workplace injuries or illnesses to their employers in writing as soon as possible after discovering them, since the injury is supposed to be reported within 30 days after the injury or illness first manifests. Upon receiving notice of a workplace incident, the filing worker’s employer must give that employee a workers’ comp claim form within one working day. The Division of Workers’ Compensation within the California Department of Industrial Relations also provides this form online.

Once the employer receives this completed form and fills out the “employer” section themselves, they must forward it to their workers’ compensation insurance provider, which usually has 14 days at most to inform the claimant by mail of their claim’s status. Assistance from a skilled workers’ compensation lawyer in Santa Ana could be crucial not just to ensuring an initial application for benefits is accurate and contains as much relevant documentation as possible, but also to resolving any issues that may arise during any stage of this process.

A Santa Ana Workers’ Compensation Attorney Could Help

Between failures by employers to comply with state law, opposition from insurance representatives, and the inherent difficulty of demonstrating how severe your condition really is, your odds of achieving a positive claim resolution without dedicated legal representation could be very slim. A tenacious Santa Ana workers’ compensation lawyer could be your strongest and most steadfast ally from start to finish of your case. Call today for a private consultation.