Workers’ Compensation Benefits

“When you file a workers’ compensation claim, you are not suing your employer. You are exercising your right under California law to claim compensation from your employer’s mandatory insurance coverage.” – Attorney Alan H. Fenton

Watch this brief video to learn more about your rights.

Benefits That Already Belong To You

Whether you are a CEO, a construction worker, a farm worker, a service employee, a citizen or a noncitizen, you have a right to workers’ compensation benefits when you’ve been injured on the job. After a work-related injury, your employer’s insurance company is supposed to bear the costs of your recovery, including medical bills and two-thirds of your wages. Unfortunately, insurers often resist paying the full amount that you deserve. The process is rarely straightforward or generous. Out of frustration and need, it can be tempting to accept an insurer’s initial offer. But unless you are willing to settle for less (sometimes far less) than what you deserve, you should consult an experienced lawyer first. Alan H. Fenton has a long and successful track record of representing clients in just this situation.

When you’ve been hurt on the job, you are not the only person who suffers; your family and other relationships feel the impact as well. A serious accident at work or work-related disability can even change the dynamics of your marriage and alter your plans for the future. We can help you put your life back on track.

What Workers’ Compensation Covers

Under California workers’ compensation laws, injured workers are entitled to receive full medical care for work-related injuries, illness or disabilities.* This includes both physical and emotional trauma that happened at work, either from a one-time accident or through repeated exposure over time. In other words, an office worker who acquires a repetitive stress injury and a worker who suffers a head injury in a construction accident are equally eligible. Both citizen and noncitizen workers are entitled to benefits.

Workers’ compensation benefits provide funds to help pay for various aspects of your recovery after an accident, including:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Job retraining
• Death benefits

Workers are also entitled to wage benefits commensurate with the severity and duration of their disabilities. Insurance providers, however, often deny or delay benefits or undervalue the extent of the temporary or permanent disability. Injured workers shouldn’t need to fight a team of insurance defense lawyers after an accident on the job, but too often, that is what happens.

Timing Matters When Filing A Claim

When you are injured on the job, your employer may recommend that you “wait and see” if you get better before filing a claim. This is exactly what you should not do. An employer cannot fire you for submitting a workers’ compensation claim. Time does not in fact heal all injuries, and waiting can delay the treatment you need to recover and, if possible, get back to work. In addition, if you wait to see a doctor, insurers may try to attribute your injuries to something that happened in the intervening time between when you were hurt and when you went to the doctor. We do not want to give insurers any reason to deny your claim or pay out less than what you deserve.

You do not have to prove anyone was at fault for your injuries. All that matters is that you were hurt in the course of doing your job.

Enforce Your Rights With Knowledgeable Representation

We know that it can be hard to think about paying a lawyer when you are hurt and facing mounting medical bills and lost wages. The good news is that you do not have to pay right now. You pay only if we help you receive benefits.

Come in for a free initial consultation, speak with attorney Alan H. Fenton, and get to know our experienced team. Call our Santa Barbara, California, office today at 805-319-4792 or send us an email.

*Making a false or fraudulent workers’ compensation claim is a felony subject to up to five years in prison or up to $50,000 or double the value of the fraud, (whichever is greater), or by both imprisonment and fine. {Lab.C*5432(a)}