In many cases, yes. Slip and fall injuries are the most common reason for workers’ compensation claims. However, the insurance company that handles your company’s workers’ comp plan may deny you coverage for various reasons. This can be frustrating, but you may still have options. If you’re having trouble accessing your workers’ comp benefits, a workers’ compensation lawyer may be able to help.
Attorney Ali Awad is experienced in handling workers’ compensation and slip and fall injury cases. After opening the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, he quickly made it the fastest-growing law firm in the country, overcoming 499 others. In his spare time, he explains no-nonsense legal concepts for more than a million followers on social media. If you’re dealing with a slip and fall or another work injury, please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation.
What Percentage of Workplace Accidents are Slips, Trips, and Falls?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slip and fall accidents accounted for about 27 percent of all workplace injuries in 2015. If your employer spent a lot of time on training for how to prevent slip and fall accidents, this is probably why. However, even with solid training, sometimes accidents still happen.
The most common causes of slip and fall accidents in a workplace are wet or uneven floors, footwear that’s inappropriate for the environment, lack of employee training, running in a dangerous environment, and distractions like staring at a smartphone while walking. For outdoor accidents, such as slipping and falling in the parking lot outside of your building, bad weather is a major cause of issues.
Do I Have to Sue My Employer?
No. Workers’ compensation insurance provides no-fault coverage for workers who are hurt on the job, regardless of fault. You don’t have to go to court and prove that your employer was negligent. In some cases, we may sue the insurance company if they refuse to cover a valid claim or a third party whose negligence contributed to your injuries.
That doesn’t mean your employer will be happy that you made a workers’ comp claim. They may not be paying your claim directly, but it could cause their insurance rates to go up. For this reason, employers sometimes try to discourage workers from making a claim. Don’t let them talk you out of seeking treatment or compensation for your injuries! However, if they are pressuring you or making you feel uncomfortable, it may be better to talk to a lawyer about how to proceed before filing your claim.
What to Do After a Slip and Fall Injury at Work
First, seek medical care, even if your injuries don’t seem severe – it’s essential to document what happened in case your symptoms get worse later. Sometimes people think they are fine, then the next day, they wake up in a lot of pain, barely able to move. Back and neck injuries, in particular, often have delayed symptoms. Keep records of any bills you’re given for diagnosis or treatment.
Next, report the injury to your supervisor right away. It’s best to do this in writing, preferably an email so you can have a copy saved for yourself. If you simply say, “Boss, I slipped on that puddle and hurt my wrist,” they may claim you didn’t tell them anything, they didn’t hear you, they don’t remember that, etc.
If your supervisor tries to talk you out of filing a workers’ comp claim, remind them that you have a legal right to use workers’ comp insurance when you’ve been injured at work. Sometimes, supervisors may threaten you or imply that this could negatively impact your job. This is illegal, but it sometimes happens. Save any emails or documents indicating the company didn’t want you to file a claim and call a lawyer immediately before taking further steps.
Will Workers’ Comp Cover My Medical Bills and Pay While I’m Out of Work?
Workers’ comp covers two-thirds of your average weekly salary while you’re unable to work. It should also cover 100 percent of your medical bills.
There are a few issues that you may run into here. Two-thirds of your usual weekly pay isn’t ideal, but most people can make do if they’re only out of work for a few weeks or less. However, if you took a bad fall, you may have significant injuries, such as a head injury, broken leg, or another injury that could keep you at home for months. Sometimes people find they simply can’t survive on this reduced paycheck. And what if your injury results in a permanent disability? You can apply for Permanent Total Disability, but you will still only get two-thirds of your average weekly pay.
If you’ve lost a lot of income and are only getting some of it back from workers’ comp, we will look at the circumstances of your accident to determine if a third-party lawsuit is an option. For example, if you were injured because a floor cleaning company left too much wax on the floor at work, causing you to slip, it’s possible you may have a claim against the cleaning company.
Another difficulty is that sometimes the insurance company will refuse to pay for some part of your treatment on the grounds that it’s unnecessary or you should try some other treatment first. Understandably, this is very upsetting for many people with injuries. Your doctor recommended a course of treatment, and now a paper-pusher at your insurance company has decided they know better than your doctor! Although it’s frustrating, resist the urge to argue with the insurance company. Call a workers’ comp attorney who has the knowledge and experience to take on the insurance carrier for you.
The insurance adjuster may also have questions about exactly where you were when the fall happened, as this may affect whether or not you’re eligible for workers’ comp in some cases. For example, if you slipped and fell while leaving work, they may argue that you weren’t on work premises when it happened. This can be tricky, because often people who slip and fall don’t remember the exact spot where their foot slipped, and even if you do remember, you may have a hard time proving it. If you were close to the edge of the employer’s property, it could be difficult to establish the specific location where your fall happened. In these cases, your lawyer may investigate to see if there were witnesses or video of the incident.
In other situations, your employer might say they don’t think you were hurt at work and that your injuries may have happened elsewhere. Although workers’ comp claims aren’t usually focused on fault, they don’t cover situations where the worker is hurt in an act of “willful misconduct,” so this may be another reason for a claim denial. Or the insurance adjuster might be convinced that you were hurt, but it wasn’t that bad and you could still work. In many cases, your attorney can help you gather evidence to prove that you have a valid workers’ comp claim. If not, we will look at any other options for seeking compensation, such as a third-party claim.
Experienced Workers Compensation Attorneys
If you or a loved one have been hurt in a slip and fall incident at work, please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm immediately for a free, confidential review of your case. We may also be able to help if you have suffered a claim denial or retaliation from your employer. The initial consultation is free, and there is no fee until we win. Call today at (470) 323-8779.
