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Delay in Your Workers Compensation Claim: What You Can Do

If you suffer a workplace accident the consequences are immediate. After a workplace accident, you need medical attention and time off work – in the event of a serious accident, you need emergency care and weeks (or longer) to recover. These ramifications of an injury or illness are costly and there is every reason to worry about the financial consequences of a workplace accident.

In New Jersey, the state government has recognized the swift and cutting impact of a workplace accident and designed the process for a workers compensation claim to follow suit. An employee is entitled to temporary disability benefits when unable to work for seven days. The first workers compensation check should arrive within two weeks of reporting your workplace accident.

What if this isn’t the case for your workers compensation claim? Some employees wait much longer for their workers compensation claim to begin reimbursement of medical costs or payment of lost wages. At the Law Offices of Albert J. Talone, we take a look at what causes these delays and an employee’s options for getting their workers compensation benefits on time.

Delays by the Insurance Company or Employer

The most common cause of delay to a workers compensation claim is the insurance company. Employers in New Jersey are required to carry workers compensation insurance. These insurance policies protect the employer from exceptional costs, in the event of a workplace injury, but also provide assurance to the employee that a workers compensation claim will …

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Fatal Workplace Accidents and Injuries Decrease

It can take anywhere from a couple months to half a year for workplace accidents and injuries statistics to work their way into the public sphere. In this case, workers’ compensation practitioners and businesses are just seeing the final numbers for 2017 and estimates for 2018 here in December. What do these new numbers tell us about workplace accidents in recent years?

Data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of fatal workplace accidents dropped from 2016 to 2017 and the approximate numbers for 2018 show another slight decrease this past year. Specifically, in 2017, the fatal injury rate was 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in the United States. This number is down from 3.6 fatalities reported in 2016.

The data on fatal workplace accidents also tells us a lot more about injuries, illnesses, and infamously dangerous industries in the United States in the most recent years.

What Does the Drop in Workplace Fatalities Indicate?

The total number of workplace fatalities in 2017 is 5,147. This number represents all fatalities from all causes and across every industry in the United States for last year. The total fatalities account for slip and fall, electrocution, work-related car accidents, and even heart attacks occurring in the workplace. There were only 43 fewer fatal accidents in 2017 than in 2016.

While it is encouraging to see a slight drop in the number of workplace fatalities, this information doesn’t indicate much to a worker’s compensation or …

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Why Are So Many Employees Injured in Passenger Air Travel?

There are some jobs in New Jersey and the United States as a whole that appear inherently more dangerous than others. For example, the use of heavy machinery and heavy lifting in construction makes it an obvious workplace for employees injured by equipment, electric shocks, improper use of tools, and manual lifting or pushing.

Similarly, the dangers of working in a restaurant or other hospitality setting are readily apparent. There are slick floors, spilled beverages, and a lot of time standing. The longer a waitress or waiter is on a shift, the greater increase there is in employees injured by slips and falls. Finally, we can look to firefighters and police officers as brave individuals taking on a job with evident dangers. These first responders are thrown into chaotic and dangerous situations as part of their job description.

These Surprising Jobs Have a High Number of Injured Employees

On the other hand, there are some professions in New Jersey where the number of employees injured at work seems inconsistent with the job description. You may not think of nursing and in-home care as particularly dangerous careers, but in fact, healthcare professionals have one of the highest rates of injury in the United States according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Another career that is high on the list of employees injured each year is taxi drivers and chauffeurs. These professional drivers don’t have some of the typical risks found in an office space of manufacturing facility …

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How to Handle Minor Injuries in the New Jersey Workplace

As a New Jersey workers’ compensation lawyer, the serious and severe workplace injuries receive the majority of time and attention in this blog. We discuss how to handle the medical costs associated with a workplace injury and what happens when your employer refuses to cover an expensive claim. However, minor injuries shouldn’t fly under the radar.

It’s important for workers in New Jersey to understand how to handle minor injuries. These injuries are subject to the same rule and regulations as a very serious injury and also entitled to the same recovery from New Jersey workers’ compensation insurance. Here are a few tips for handling a minor injury in the workplace.

Report All Workplace Injuries to Your Employer

Did you know that nearly half of all workplace injuries go unreported in the United States? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that nearly half of all serious injuries are unreported and very few workers inform their employers of minor injuries. Even in industries where the number of workplace injuries is high, a substantial number of minor injuries go unreported.

Not telling your employer about a minor injury is problematic. First, you must inform an employer of an injury to initiate the insurance and healthcare process. Whether you visit the emergency room or later require additional care for an injury, you can’t recover the medical costs without telling your employer about the injury.

Second, you are required to inform your employer of an injury within a specified amount of …

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Five Steps to Receiving New Jersey Workers Compensation Benefits

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development handles every New Jersey workers compensation claim. Regardless of the severity of your injury, the industry of your employer, or complexity of your claim, your case will eventually pass before the same department.

However, there are certain steps you must take to make a valid claim, and the process isn’t always as straightforward or simple as you may imagine. Our team at the Law Offices of Albert J. Talone takes you through the five steps to filing a New Jersey workers compensation claim, but simultaneously encourage any injured employee to contact our office for assistance with one or all of these steps.

#1: Report Your Injury to a Supervisor

The first action you must take after a workplace injury in New Jersey is to inform your employer. Under New Jersey workers compensation law, an employee is required to provide notice of a workplace injury before filing a claim with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

You are expected to provide notice to your employer within 14 days of an injury, but the sooner you report the injury the better. If you fail to report a workplace injury within 90 days of such injury or onset of illness, then you may lose your right to New Jersey workers compensation benefits.

#2: Obtain a Medical Report and Evaluation

In most New Jersey workers compensation claims, the most important aspect is recovering costs for medical treatment. If you required emergency care, a …

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Most Common Injuries for New Jersey Employees in Education

We often overlook the physicality required of teachers and educators but leading a classroom certainly isn’t a desk job. Teachers spend long hours standing as they lecture and more time on their feet as they detail concepts on a chalk or whiteboard. There is a lot of reaching to point out earlier information or write new concepts, and an equal amount of bending to become level with students in their desks. By the end of the day, teachers have spent significant time moving, walking, and standing.

The physical demands of teaching can keep people fit and healthy. It also prevents certain injuries and illnesses associated with long periods of sitting or typing, but New Jersey employees at schools and universities are still prone to workplace injury.

In this post, the Law Offices of Albert J. Talone takes a look at the most common injuries to befall teachers and educators in New Jersey.

Impact on the Back

The workplace injuries to New Jersey employees working as teachers are more dispersed and varied than some other professions. A study on teachers in Australia found that educators were just as likely to suffer injury or pain in their hands and fingers as their ankles. However, one type of injury stood out in this study and those performed in the United States – injuries to the back were far more common than any other part of the body.

Teachers are constantly lifting books, straining to reach the corner of a whiteboard, and pointing …

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Reporting a Workplace Injury: Timing, Tips & What You Need to Know

If you sustain a workplace injury, a first step is reporting the incident and injury to your supervisor, manager, or boss. Despite the necessity of this conversation, it’s intimidating for many New Jersey workers to walk into a human resources department or supervisor’s office and discuss an accident. However, these conversations are beneficial for both the employer and employee and could ultimately save your job down the road.

This list of timing information, tips, and what you need to know about workers’ compensation laws in New Jersey can help make notifying your boss of a workplace injury much easier.

#1: When Should You Notify Your Employer?

The best possible time to notify your employer about a workplace injury is immediately after it occurs. Early reporting prevents a number of problems or complications later on. For example, if you fail to report an injury or possible injury, then your employer could question how and when the injury occurred and if it even occurred at work.

As well, reporting also allows your employer to begin a workers’ compensation claim with the insurance provider. In New Jersey, your employer and the insurance company are allowed to choose the doctor or specialist you see for medical treatment. In order for a provider to be selected, you need to have the proper paperwork in place with the insurance company.

#2: Can My Boss Fire Me for Reporting an Injury?

Many employees fear that reporting an injury, particularly one that will require time off work, will …

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For an Employee Injured at Work: Two Paths in New Jersey for Workers’ Compensation

In New Jersey, an employee injured at work should first and foremost tell an employer about the accident, incident or illness. Employers in New Jersey are required to have workers’ compensation insurance that reimburses an employee’s medical expenses and pays benefits after an injury. Once an employer knows about your injury, it has a responsibility to start the claims process with the insurance provider.

In most cases, the employer makes the appropriate phone calls to the insurance company and files the correct paperwork. The average employee injured at work in New Jersey encounters very few problems receiving workers’ compensation benefits. In these uncontested situations, an employee may ask initial questions of an attorney regarding what to tell an insurance provider, how to complete required paperwork, and what to expect throughout the process.

Employee Injured at Work & Pushback on Workers’ Compensation

Other employees receive deferment, delay and denial from their employer or the insurance provider. An employer may argue that the accident occurred outside of work or was the result of recreational activities. Some situations, such as repetitive motion injuries and cumulative trauma are harder for an employee to prove, and an insurance company may inappropriately pushback on these claims.

When an employee injured at work receives pushback or denial of a workers’ compensation claim, the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Law provides separate paths for employees to obtain appropriate and entitled benefits.

Filing for an Informal Hearing

An employer injured at work can file with the New Jersey Department …

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New Jersey Supreme Court to Decide Question of Jurisdiction in Workers’ Compensation Case

In New Jersey, there are several procedural and factual barriers that an injured employee must overcome to have a successful workers’ compensation claim. There include providing proper notification of an injury, filing a claim within the required period of time, and bringing a case in the state with proper jurisdiction to determine an outcome. All of these procedural requirements must be met before an injured worker even gets a hearing date.

An upcoming case before the New Jersey Supreme Court takes a look at the parameters and requirements for one of these procedural requirements – jurisdiction. 

The Facts of Williams v. Raymours Furniture Co Inc

In August the New Jersey Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Keith Williams v. Raymours Furniture Co Inc. It is a case that began when Mr. Williams accepted a job back in 2014. Williams lived in New Jersey, and it is from his home in the state that he accepted a position at a warehouse in Suffern, New York. This is where Mr. Williams exclusively worked for Raymours Furniture.

During the course of his employment at the warehouse, Mr. Williams tripped and fractured his elbow. It was a serious injury that left Williams unable to work, and the New York Workers’ Compensation Board readily approved his application filing for medical treatment and indemnity benefits.

The New York workers’ compensation benefits eventually ended. At this time, Mr. Williams filed a claim with the New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation for partial permanent disability …

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What Is the Difference Between Health Insurance and New Jersey Workers’ Compensation for Medical Bills?

If you are injured playing basketball with friends and fracture your arm, you need health insurance to help cover the medical bills from hospital visit or expenses for other care. Depending on your health insurance plan, there are many in New Jersey, you may pay a certain portion of these expenses “out of pocket.”

If you are working as a bartender and fall on the wet floor, fracturing your arm, you are entitled to workers’ compensation to cover the medical expenses. Workers’ compensation is mandated by New Jersey law, but provided through your employer. In New Jersey, nearly all employers are required to have workers’ compensation insurance to cover these incidents. Therefore, a form of insurance also covers these expenses.

While these examples show the basic difference between health insurance and workers’ compensation insurance, the questions and interworking of these two insurance plans are much more in-depth.

If I am Injured at Work, Do I Need Health Insurance?

Currently, the majority of United States citizens are required to have health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. To remain compliant with federal law, you probably need health insurance, whether or not you are injured at work.

When it comes specifically to work-related injuries, workers’ compensation will cover these costs. That is why it is essential to document injuries and Of course, there are always contentious cases. An employer or insurance provider may argue that an injury wasn’t actually sustained at work or wasn’t in the …

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The Law Office of Albert J. Talone is a NJ Workers Compensation Law Firm committed to meeting the needs of every client. For more information - contact us today.

The Law Office Of Albert J. Talone
The Law Office Of Albert J. Talone is committed to providing for those with Workers Compensation cases throughout New Jersey.
302 N Washington Ave #101
Moorestown
New Jersey
08057
United States

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