Orange County Worker’s Compensation and personal injury
Living in Orange County is an amazing experience, with the best weather and quality of life of any California county, however it also unfortunately includes worker’s compensation injuries to job workers. Getting hurt on the job can devastate a family’s finances. In addition to the mortgage or rent, utilities, food and other normal expenses, there will likely be thousands of dollars in medical bills.
Ease your stress by calling the workers’ compensation specialists at Pacific Attorney Group. Our personal injury lawyers have a strong understanding of California workers’ compensation laws and the experience to ensure our Orange County clients receive the compensation they need and deserve.
Protect your workers’ compensation rights
Protecting your worker’s compensation rights is very important. No matter how many years or how hard you work, an accident or illness on the job can leave you temporarily or permanently disabled. Despite having paid into your workers’ compensation benefits for years, being denied benefits can happen – it has, to many of our Orange County clients.
This practice can especially be evident if there is a lot of money at stake. A severely injured employee may have tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills that need to be paid, in addition to getting wages during the healing process. Worker’s compensation should be there to help this employee recover and get back to work.
If there is a permanent disability, the employee may see compensation for rehabilitation and then retraining for another job within the company. Some of our clients believe these are exactly the types of things insurers do not want to fund.
If you are concerned about your worker’s compensation rights, don’t get mad; get a lawyer. For years, Pacific Attorney Group lawyers have successfully overturned the denial of workers’ compensation benefits for injured employees in Orange County and other California cities.
Here are some of the many ways Pacific Attorney Group can help with your worker’s compensation case:
- Getting claims admitted by insurance carriers so that the injured worker will receive benefits in a timely manner
- Helping injured workers receive wage loss benefits
- Assisting in getting you the medical treatment recommended by your doctor
- Helping you get fair reimbursement for your mileage to and from your treating physicians and therapists
- Making sure you receive a fair evaluation of your permanent impairment and that you receive benefits to compensate you for your losses
- Seeking compensation for disfigurement or scarring caused by your injury
Things not covered by workers’ compensation
Although workers’ compensation laws are governed by California state statutes, there are some things all have in common: the types of incidents not covered by workers’ compensation benefits. They include:
- Heart attack
- Repetitious mental trauma
- Ordinary diseases of life
- State of intoxication
- Willful attempt to injure oneself or another
- Participation in off-duty recreational social activity
- An incident that arose out of an act of God
- Employee horseplay that produces or causes an injury
In addition, workers’ compensation insurance does not compensate for pain and suffering. It does not provide job security in the event of an injury. Workers’ compensation insurance does not guarantee that certain contract benefits covered in a collective bargaining agreement will continue for the injured workers.
6 Types of Worker’s Compensation benefits
According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, there are six basic types of workers’ compensation benefits available to employees, depending on the nature, date and severity of the workers injury:
- Medical care. Workers injured on the job are entitled to receive all reasonably required medical care to cure or relieve the effects o the injury, with no deductibles or co-payments.
- Temporary disability benefits. If you can’t return to work within three days, you are entitled to temporary disability benefits to partially replace wages, usually two-thirds of the lost wages.
- Permanent disability benefits. The worker receives the temporary disability benefit for life.
- Vocational rehabilitation services. If you are unable to return to your former type for work, you are entitled to vocational rehabilitation services – if these services can return you to suitable employment.
- Supplemental job displacement benefits. This is a voucher for education-related retraining or skill enhancement, or both, payable to a state-approved or accredited school.
- 6. Death benefits. This covers burial expenses up to $5,000, and support payments for dependents for a period of time.
Pacific Attorney Group and worker’s compensation
At Pacific Attorney Group, our expert personal injury lawyers have years of experience dealing with workers’ compensation cases. Our staff are committed to helping people like you who are injured on the job. If you have been injured in a workplace accident, it is important to have a lawyer review your claim to make sure that you are being treated fairly and to ensure that you receive the full amount of compensation due to you.
We offer a FREE no-obligation case review, so if you live in or near Orange County please call Pacific Attorney Group. We will review the details of your worker’s compensation case and provide you with more information about your rights under California personal injury law.
Contact Pacific Attorney Group for a FREE case review
If you or a family member has been injured in a worker’s compensation accident in Orange County or anywhere in California, call the personal injury lawyers at Pacific Attorney Group for a free consultation now.
We can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week at: