If you get hurt on the job, there are several steps that you should take in order to protect your right to receive benefits and compensation in Minnesota. You may be entitled to have your medical bills paid by workers’ compensation insurance that your employer is required to provide you. You may also be entitled to receive additional compensation for pain and suffering, emotional distress and other non-economic losses in situations where a third party non-employer was responsible in some way for causing your on-the-job injury.
When you suffer an on-the-job injury in Minnesota, you should notify your employer right away. You should let your employer know as soon as practical about the accident and the injury. If you developed carpal tunnel, repetitive stress disorders or injuries from overexertion or repetitive motions on the job, you should alert your employer as soon as you are diagnosed with a work-related condition. The same is true if you are sickened by toxins that you are exposed to at work. Let your employer know, in writing, about the work-related injury as soon as you can.
A delay in alerting your employer to a work-related injury could result in your claim being time-barred, rendering you ineligible for making a workers’ compensation claim. A delay in alerting your employer could also give rise to questions about whether your injuries were actually work-related and should be covered by workers compensation in Minnesota or not.
Once you have alerted your employer to your work injury, your employer needs to move forward and file a claim with its workers’ compensation insurer and, if you are going to miss more than three days of work, with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Your employer must take these steps because you should automatically become eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for any on-the-job injury regardless of whether any negligence was involved.
Once your claim has been submitted, you should begin receiving workers’ compensation benefits including coverage for medical bills as well as payment of partial lost wages if you cannot work on a temporary or permanent basis, or if your earning potential is reduced by the workplace injury.
After a work injury, you should also see a doctor right away so you can get an accurate diagnosis and document your injuries. This will help you to prove that your injuries are real and that they are work-related.
Finally, you should strongly consider speaking with a Minnesota work injury lawyer. A work injury attorney will advise you as to your rights within the workers’ compensation system and will help you to appeal claims denials. Your attorney can also help you to determine if you may have a case against a non-employer for negligence giving rise to your injury. If any non-employer was negligent in a way that caused you harm, you could file a personal injury lawsuit to recover broader compensation than workers’ compensation benefits provide to you.
