If you are injured on the job, under Minnesota Law, you are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits

These benefits include the following:

1. PAYMENT OF YOUR MEDICAL BILLS: You can get your medical and chiropractic bills paid by Workers’ Compensation insurance. There are caps on the percentage of the bills paid but the remainder is not generally plaintiff’s responsibility.

2. WAGE LOSS REIMBURSEMENT: You can receive compensation for the wages that you lost because of your injury.

3. DISABILITY BENEFITS: You can receive a money payment to reimburse you for your permanent disability. Workers’ Compensation does not pay for Pain and Suffering but for functional loss. If you get paid a check-that is NOT a settlement. Settlements must be approved by Workers’ Compensation Court.

4. REHAB ASSISTANCE: You are entitled to pick your own rehab counselor.

There are many other types of benefits that you can collect when you are injured on the job in Minnesota.

These benefits are paid by the insurance company of the person or company that you were working for when injured.  If the employer had no Workers’ Compensation insurance, you may be able to collect these benefits from the State of Minnesota.

IF YOU ARE INJURED ON THE JOB, you should immediately report the injury to your employer. They are responsible, not you, for filling out the first report of injury. Then, ask that the claim be turned over to the employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance company.

An attorney at Schmidt-Salita Law Team can assist you in getting these benefits.  Even if you are receiving these benefits already, an attorney can help you to determine whether you are being paid the correct amount.

Under certain circumstances, you can collect Workers’ Compensation benefits and also make a claim against another party that might have been at fault in causing your injuries.  For example, if you are injured on the job while driving or riding in a motor vehicle and injured in a motor vehicle accident which was caused by the negligence of another driver, you may have both a Workers’ Compensation claim and a Third-Party Claim against the other driver, or his automobile insurance company. Construction accidents caused by another party, companies responsible for faulty products, property owners, among other non-employer parties.

Attorney Dean Salita is one of a select handful of lawyers who practice in the areas of Workers’ Compensation and Personal Injury. He is a frequently lecturer and advisor to other attorneys as to the interplay between the two systems. It is vitally important to maximize benefits when there are Work Comp and Third Party cases together.