What To Do When You Get Injured at Work
Despite the best of intentions by employers and employees, there are times in which accidents cannot be avoided. When a person does become injured at work, they may be at a loss as to what they can do.
Remember, a workplace injury can happen in any type of business. In most cases, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA) is going to kick in.
This act ensures that the employee is taken care of.
This act will also help with wage replacement and medical benefits from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, especially if the accident was a result of the employer not doing their job of keeping the workplace safe.
However, what happens when a person is not covered by the WSIA?
When a Person Is Not Covered
While most workers in Canada are going to be covered by the WSIA, there are specific instances in which a person may not be covered. For example:
- If the industry is one that the WSIA is not in
- If the person is a temporary worker
- If the person has not been working at this job for very long and has not received this benefit yet
In these situations, the person is not going to be able to rely on worker’s compensation insurance from their employer. And they are truly on their own.
The good news, they don’t have to be on their own!
Your Options
When you have been injured at work, and you know that you are not going to have a chance for workers compensation, this is when you have the option to sue your employer.
There have been cases in the past that met these types of criteria and in the end, the worker was able to win some compensation in order to help while they healed from their injuries.
According to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, an employee can sue an employer when:
- The injuries were a result of a defect in machinery, processes, building or the premises of the business.
- Injuries were due to the negligence of the employer.
- Injuries were caused by another employee’s negligence.
However, it should be noted that you are going to want to follow a few steps before you decide that a lawsuit is the only way to get what you deserve.
The Plan to Follow
When you have been injured at work, here is a list of what you need to do in order to ensure that if you do end up having to sue the employer that you did everything in your power to ensure that the entire process was legal.
- Notify your supervisor of this injury. If you cannot find someone that is around, be sure that the employees who are working with notify someone asap.
- Get medical attention for the injury asap. Do not put this off! If you were to put this off, then you are going to find that in a legal dispute the employer could use this information against you.
- Be sure that the employer is filling out all the necessary paperwork that is needed to prove that an injury did happen and that you were injured.
- Get a copy of this paperwork so that you have this in your records, as you never know when you may need this later.
- Be sure that you follow the rules of your medical doctor about your injury. If you need to be seen every few weeks, be sure that you do this. You do not want to skip out on any doctor’s appointment, as this can be used against you.
- Contact your employer about worker’s insurance and if you have a case with it. If not, they may offer you something out of their own business since you were injured at work.
- If you are getting nowhere with the business and are not finding that you can get worker’s insurance, then you need to call a personal injury lawyer.
Also remember that if you are injured at work and are told that your job is gone, the employer will have to answer to this if you end up having to file a lawsuit.
There have been times in which a business has not admitted a person to come back to work after suffering a workplace injury and this can get a business in even more trouble.
Just because you have been injured at work does not mean that the workplace can give away your position.
They need to hold this for you unless a medical doctor states that you will never be able to work this job again.
How a Personal Injury Attorney in Whitby Fights Your Case
While most people find that they never have to worry about being injured at work, there are still many who are injured and they find that they end up going at this on their own, which can make this process even scarier!
You may feel as though you have nowhere to turn, the injury is keeping you from working so you have no money coming in, while the bills pile up and you are struggling to pay your mortgage to keep the roof over your head.
This is the situation that many people find themselves in. A personal injury attorney is going to fight for you. But, how are they going to do this?
There are several methods that an attorney can use in order to get you the compensation that you deserve.
To begin, they are going to look at your case and your employer to make sure that the employer did everything that they needed to do in order to get you some sort of compensation.
You would be surprised at just how many times; an employee is denied due to the way the employer worded something.
Afterward, if it seems that the employer is not considering this a workplace injury, which is often the case, this is where the lawyer is going to fight for you. The evidence is going to be collected that shows how the injury occurred and the extent of your injury. Medical records will often be used to show just how extensive this injury is and how it has affected your life.
In addition, the lawyer is going to prove just why the employer is responsible for this accident happening. This is where it takes time to gather evidence to prove that without a doubt the employer is responsible for what has happened to you.
Even if you have been denied for coverage from an employer, be sure that you are not simply sitting back and taking this. There are many cases in which denials can be overturned.
For those who have been injured at work, don’t feel as though you have to go at this on your own. Conte Jaswal is here to help you with the issue at hand.
We understand how terrifying it can be to be injured and have bills piling up without any income coming in. We will fight for you to ensure that the employer gives you a fair deal!
Contact us today for a FREE Consultation.
