Redding Workers’ Compensation Law Blog

Most injured workers count on workers’ compensation benefits to cover medical care costs and provide other benefits. But, getting these benefits isn’t always easy. A critical step in getting the benefits that one is due is selecting a qualified medical examiner (QME) in conjunction with one’s California workers’ compensation case. The choice directly influences the case outcome because the QME’s evaluation is crucial in determining the nature and extent of a worker’s injury. Understanding how to navigate this selection process is essential for a favorable outcome. In a workers’ compensation case, a QME is a licensed physician certified by the Division of Workers’ Compensation Medical Unit. They aim provide an objective medical opinion, vital in resolving disputes about workers’ compensation benefits. This...

The workers’ compensation system is designed to provide essential financial support, along with other kinds of assistance, to employees who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses. The supplemental job displacement benefit (SJDB) is one of the lesser-known forms of assistance injured workers can receive. When a complete recovery from an on-the-job injury or illness isn’t possible, SJDBs can provide new hope – and a chance to learn new skills – for workers who want to return to work, even if they can no longer go back to their old professions. The Key Features Of Supplemental Job Displacement Benefits The supplemental job displacement benefit is a unique provision within California’s workers’ comp system, in line with this state’s commitment to look after its workers’...

Despite the fact that workers’ comp can provide medical and financial lifelines for injured workers, few people want to be off work any longer than necessary. However, part of the workers’ compensation process is determining whether you need temporary or permanent work restrictions once you return. What Are Work Restrictions? Work restrictions are medical guidelines established by the doctor in charge of your care that are designed to modify or limit your work-related activities. Work restrictions are important to: Employee safety: The primary goal of work restrictions is to prevent you, the injured worker, from engaging in activities that could cause you additional harm. Faster recoveries: By tailoring your job duties to accommodate your condition, work restrictions help speed your...

There are two pressing financial factors that tend to affect those who have recently been hurt on the job in California. The first is the cost of medical care, which can be significant if an individual’s injury or medical condition is particularly severe. The second is the possibility of lost wages because someone cannot do their job as normal due to their medical condition. The California workers’ compensation program helps to reduce that financial stress on employees by providing them with benefits. Workers can typically receive full medical coverage for necessary treatment and disability benefits until they can return to work. However, many injured workers find themselves disagreeing with their employers about whether they are ready to go back to...

Being injured on the job is never an easy experience for you. Depending on the severity of your injury, your life could be dramatically impacted by your injury, and it may take you years of therapy and medical treatment in order to recover. When you are injured, you rely on the workers’ compensation system in order to get the help you need. Called the Great Compromise, workers’ compensation provides you with the right to receive medical care from your employer if you are injured while at work during the performance of your work duties. However, what happens when the system is not working the way that it is intended, and you are struggling to get the help you need? For...

Thousands of workers hit the road as part of their job every day in California. There are numerous professionals whose job consists almost exclusively of driving. Some people drive their own vehicles, while others operate vehicles from a fleet maintained by their employer. From those who operate school buses to those who provide rideshare services or deliver pizzas, many workers are on the road for almost their entire shift. There are countless other employees who have to run errands or drive to client locations as part of their jobs. A manager at a restaurant might need to drive to the bank to get change or to a supplier to pick up heavy cream when the kitchen runs out unexpectedly. Plumbers...

The average person might not understand how demanding restaurant work can be, let alone how dangerous it often is. Many fail to understand the skill required to handle the constant pressure that comes with restaurant jobs. The professionals that serve in the restaurant industry often work long hours to provide service for customers, and they also frequently put themselves at risk of serious injury. What makes restaurant work so dangerous? Slip-And-Falls People can slip and fall in any environment, but a restaurant is a perfect storm of dangerous conditions. People have to move at a quick pace, and there are constantly liquids and other items getting transported. All it takes is someone spilling a drink or dropping a few candies...

There are many different kinds of jobs, but no matter what kind of work people have, there’s always the chance of injury. Workplace injuries happen much more often than people realize. There’s nearly an accident every minute, with millions of accidents happening across the country every year. Every job has its own unique struggles. And, while each injury is unique, many of them fit into a few categories. Here are the most common workplace injuries: Slip And Falls People slip and fall at home all the time, so it’s only likely people will have the same issues in uncontrollable environments such as work. A slip and fall accident can lead to serious head and spine trauma. Some injuries may only cause minor...

If you were off the job due to a work-related injury and were receiving workers’ comp, you may have reasonable concerns about going back to work. Will you be able to perform the job successfully? Will you aggravate the injury you just recovered from? Will your employer be flexible if you have certain physical restrictions on what you can safely do? All these worries are quite understandable. As much as you want to get back to work, you want to do so in a manner that protects your physical well-being. While You Are Healing While you are getting better, your doctor will likely communicate with the claims administrator. The doctor will give you the green light to resume your job...

Nursing can be a very dangerous industry to work in. Nurses spend every day working with sick and injured patients, and this can sometimes create a dangerous environment. They need to be wary of the injury risks. It’s impossible to predict all of the different ways people can be hurt on the job, but you can look at overall trends and statistics to find out what happens most often. Below are a few examples of the common injuries that nurses suffer every year in the United States. Overexertion Injuries These often happen when nurses are asked to lift patients or help move them. Patients may weigh more than the nurses themselves, but there’s no way to provide care without helping them move...

In many cases, an injury at work is something that takes place all at once. A worker is completely healthy, for instance, and then they suffer a head injury in a fall. They get rushed to the hospital and it’s clear that they’ve been injured that very day. However, there are a lot of workplace injuries that are a bit more cumulative in nature. The effects build up over time. This doesn’t make them less serious, but it does sometimes cause workers to overlook the issues. They simply don’t realize that they’re being harmed in the same way. One example of this is hearing loss. A Permanent Issue One potential problem with work-related hearing loss is that there’s often nothing...

It is estimated that more than 2,000 workers in the U.S. injure their eyes so severely on the job that they require medical treatment. Unfortunately, eye injuries are not only somewhat common, but they can also be serious and lead to lifelong issues. Learn more about work-caused eye injuries here. Workplace Eye Injuries There are two main causes of work-caused eye injuries. One is because workers fail to wear eye protection, and the other is if they wear the wrong type of protection for their work. When this happens, their eyes are at risk of being burned, penetrated, struck or scraped. Employers and managers must take an active role in ensuring workers wear the proper eye protection. Some of the available...

If you suffer injury or illness at work, you probably know you can claim workers’ compensation. Most California employers must hold it, and as it is no-fault insurance should cover most cases. What you might not know is what workers’ compensation covers. Is it just your medical bills? Or more? Here is what workers’ compensation could cover in California: 1. Medical Treatment Depending on the extent of the injury or illness, you could require considerable medical treatment, as well as rehabilitation. The cost of ongoing medical care can be costly, and you might require care for a considerable amount of time. 2. Lost Wages Because You Cannot Work Temporary disability benefits cover wages lost while you are off work recovering. Permanent...

Some California workers’ compensation claims are quick and straightforward. The employee has an obvious injury that directly relates to the job that they do, and their employer acknowledges that they need support. The worker will apply for and receive benefits, and they can trust that their employer will accommodate their work restrictions as they transition back to their job. Other times, the employer might try to fight the worker. They may question whether the injury is serious enough to warrant accommodations and benefits and may even claim that the worker didn’t incur their injury on the job. Workers have the right to keep pushing for benefits, but such situations can become complicated very quickly. In a situation where there is...

Back pain is a very common health issue that affects people from all backgrounds and professions. Certain professions do have higher risks. If you work in health care, for example, you have roughly a 70% chance of developing back issues. Anyone who lifts or twists on the job could suffer a serious back injury. Despite their prevalence and how much they can affect someone’s quality of life and ability to work, back injuries are among the medical issues people are most likely to ignore or downplay at first. A surprising number of adults try to continue working when they have intense back pain on the job and may put off getting medical care. Doing so could be a major mistake. Back Issues...

If you are injured at work and make a claim to obtain workers’ compensation, there is a chance that you will need to see a medical professional for a qualified medical evaluation. This evaluation can be requested when your claim is denied or delayed and you’d like a medical evaluation to determine if the claim should be payable. Additionally, you can ask for the evaluation by a qualified medical evaluator, or QME, if you disagree with your current treating physician’s thoughts on your condition or if you want to find out if you are permanently disabled and may need future medical treatment. In California, you are able to see a  list of QMEs to choose from, so you can select someone...

You do a lot of manual labor, which means that you’re frequently exposed to working conditions and jobs that put you at risk of various injuries – and, one day, your luck runs out. You get hurt. Your boss, however, tells you that you’ll just have to go home and rest until you heal because you aren’t entitled to any benefits under workers’ compensation since you’re “just a seasonal or temporary” worker. On top of that, you’re an immigrant without documentation. Don’t Listen To Your Employer’s Attempts To Hide The Truth Immigrants are an important part of California’s labor force. The law recognizes that by making discrimination against injured workers illegal – regardless of whether they have legal documents or not. In...

Some workers’ compensation claims are straightforward. It is obvious how the employee got hurt and what benefits they require. Other times, claims can cause lengthy disputes between workers and their employers. When there are disagreements about the right treatments, the restrictions on a worker’s job performance or even if their injury is the result of their work, the worker and their employer may require the help of a qualified medical evaluator (QME) to resolve the disagreement. Can you go to your primary care physician and ask them to act as a QME for your claim? Doctors Must Apply To Become QMEs Workers who need medical care after suffering an injury at work can sometimes seek care from their own physicians....

When you are hurt at work, you might be inclined to believe you will automatically receive the financial restitution you need to recover from your injuries and pay for the other damages. After all, workers’ compensation claims are meant for just that, taking care of injured workers. However, it helps to understand that multiple factors come into play when determining the compensation you will receive following your workplace injury. Some of these factors include the extent of your injury as well as the nature of treatment you will need. Here are two questions that can help you negotiate a better settlement for your workers’ compensation. Are Your Injuries Permanent Or Temporary? Workers’ compensation settlements can be awarded in lump sums or...

When you’re hurt on the job, the one thing you hope will be true is that your employer will take responsibility and you will get your claim approved for workers’ compensation. Unfortunately, that is not always how things work, and it’s possible that your claim could be denied. There are many reasons why your claim might be denied ranging from not including enough information to missing important deadlines. Here are the five most common reasons and what to do next. 1. You Didn’t File In Time. The first reason that you might have a claim denied is if you didn’t file the claim soon enough. To avoid this, let your employer know as soon as you can after your injury....

When people think about workplace injuries, they often consider catastrophic events, like someone falling off of a 10-foot ladder to the concrete floor below. But things don’t have to be this traumatic for you to suffer serious complications. For instance, despite the popularity of standing desks and the need for many workers to be on their feet, it’s been found that standing can take a serious physical toll on your body. This isn’t to say that sitting is necessarily better, as it has been linked to obesity and plenty of other health issues, but it’s important to know that simply being at work all day may be causing your body to wear down. What Problems Can It Cause? There many...

Most people associate job-related wrist, hand and arm pain with carpal tunnel syndrome, especially if their work involves repetitive movements. While carpal tunnel is a legitimate workplace injury, it is not the only form of continuous trauma that affects the arm and hand. When you believe your pain is carpal tunnel syndrome, you may choose to treat it yourself, at least for a while, with Tylenol or ibuprofen. Unfortunately, if your condition is not carpal tunnel, you risk it worsening to the point that it impacts your work and lifestyle. Wrist Tendonitis Many people confuse tendonitis of the wrist with carpal tunnel syndrome. The symptoms of these conditions are similar, but they are two different continuous trauma injuries. Pain on the bottom...

After you got hurt on the job, you thought that you’d be able to make a claim and get the financial support that you needed. You were surprised when your workers’ compensation claim was denied, leaving you with no support at all. After a claim is denied, it’s important for you to know that you can appeal that decision. There are a number of reasons that a claim might be denied, but you have a right to appeal the denial of your claim by requesting a hearing with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. What Happens When You Appeal A Denied Workers’ Compensation Claim? If you appeal a denied claim, you will have your case heard by a workers’ compensation administrative law...

If you are applying for California workers’ compensation benefits, you could face opposition from the claims administrator about the severity or cause of your workplace injury. They might even question whether the illness or injury was employment-related at all. These, and more, questions could give rise to the need for a qualified medical evaluator (QME) on your case. Below is some important information to understand about the role of a QME in workers’ comp cases. Are QMEs On Your Side? At best, they will be neutral. These medical professionals, certified by the Division of Workers’ Compensation Medical Unit, perform legal and medical evaluations of claimants. They become involved when your doctor’s assessment of your condition gets called into question, and they may include:...