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Work Injury? Short-Term Income Options While You Mend

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Unfortunately, Job injuries do happen. If you find yourself in this position, don’t fret; there are several options available to help supplement your income while you take time off from work to heal and mend. Let’s review some of these short-term options for supplemental income.

Workers’ Compensation

Work Injury - Leg Cast

If you are injured due to your job or workplace, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Workers’ compensation is a federal program that provides money to employees who suffer on-the-job injuries or illnesses and death benefits to families in the event of a worker’s death related to their job. Workers’ compensation aims to provide financial aid and reimbursement for medical expenses so that an employee can focus on healing and recovery without worrying about basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothing.

Each state has its own laws regarding workers’ compensation eligibility criteria and benefit amounts. Contact your state’s Department of Labor or consult with an attorney specializing in workplace injury cases for more information about workers’ compensation benefits in your state.

Social Security Disability

Social Security administration

If your injury is expected to keep you out of work for a long period of time, you may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits. These benefits are designed to provide financial support when someone can no longer work due to a disability or illness that is expected to last for at least 12 months or result in death. [Read more…] about Work Injury? Short-Term Income Options While You Mend

Injured on the Job? 3 Things to Immediately Do

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Injuries on the job are common, but a severe injury may affect your ability to work for that day, for a week, or even for several years. In this case, you may be entitled to damages from medical bills and lost wages. It’s important to know what to do after sustaining a work injury – otherwise, you may not receive the benefits you deserve. Following the proper procedures will protect your rights as an employee, including your right to worker’s compensation. Here are three important things to do immediately after a workplace accident.

1) Report Your Job-Related Injury in a Timely Manner

If an accident happens at work, it’s best to report it to your employer immediately, if possible. Establishing the timeline early makes it easier to track your condition in case it worsens, allowing insurance companies to trace the injury back to the workplace accident. Many states also have a deadline for reporting your injury. A report to your employer will likely be required for you to receive worker’s compensation. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to make this your first step.

2) Get a Medical Evaluation

After getting injured on the job and reporting your injury to your employer, [Read more…] about Injured on the Job? 3 Things to Immediately Do

Save Money by Getting Disability Insurance Through Your Work

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When you think of insurance through your employer, you typically think about health insurance. However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there is a growing trend for employers to offer other types of insurance as well. One of those is disability insurance. In this table (although dated) provided by the BLS, we can see that both long-term and short-term disability insurance coverage has increased over the years.

Disability Insurance

As the name implies, short-term disability plans are designed to replace lost wages for a short, fixed amount of time. Ninety-three percent of private industry workers are covered by a short-term plan. Generally, coverage is about 26 weeks.

If you are among the lucky ones whose employers offer the opportunity to have disability insurance here are some reasons why you should take them up on their offer. [Read more…] about Save Money by Getting Disability Insurance Through Your Work

4 Major Costs of Workplace Injuries to Include in Your Claim

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Being involved in a workplace injury or accident can be one of the most difficult experiences for a person to go through. Not only is it stressful emotionally and physically but a workplace injury often involves financial hardship as well. Although worker’s compensation claims help to relieve some of that financial hardship, the fact is that your employer and their insurance company are not on your side. Thus the following includes four major costs of job site injuries to make sure that you include within your claim.

Medical Bills

The most obvious recommendation a job site accident lawyer will give you is to make sure that you are seeking medical attention for your injuries. Not only are your medical documents needed to prove the severity of your accident, but your health should always come first before anything else. However, because of the complexity of healthcare, it can be easy to forget to add some major medical costs to your claim.

Workplace Injury and Lost Wages

Even if your workplace injury isn’t too severe, many employers will [Read more…] about 4 Major Costs of Workplace Injuries to Include in Your Claim

Dealing With Temporary Disability After a Workplace Injury

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Since 1970, workplace deaths have been reduced by more than 60%, and occupational injuries have declined by 40%.

Although workplaces are safer than ever before, many jobs still carry a significant risk of injury and even death. After experiencing an injury on the job, many workers become temporarily disabled and unfit to work.

This type of sidelining from the job can cause a number of hardships. Many people find making ends meet difficult, especially if they have families, and mental health is frequently also negatively impacted. Here is a quick guide on strategies that can help you recover faster and get your life back on track.

Mental Health

Understanding why many injured workers slip into depression is easy. Unable to work, with nothing to occupy their time, workers often fall into the trap of repetitive thinking, obsessive thoughts, deflated morale, and lower self-confidence. Staying connected with friends and family is crucial for maintaining your mental health throughout the recovery process. In addition, many professional therapists specialize in treating injured workers who are experiencing a difficult recovery.

Stay on Top of Physical Therapy

For the fastest, most complete recovery possible, consult with a physical therapist who is trained to help patients with your particular injury. A good physical therapy regimen is medically proven to improve results by restoring your function closer to what it was prior to the accident than without the therapy. [Read more…] about Dealing With Temporary Disability After a Workplace Injury

How to Fund a Personal Injury Lawsuit to Get the Settlement You Need

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If you’ve been injured in an accident or by someone’s negligence, you may have decided to consult an attorney to get legal relief. This could include compensation to cover expenses stemming from your injuries, such as lost wages, medical services and treatments, hospital costs, physical or occupational rehabilitation, repairs to your vehicle if impacted, and other possible monetary considerations.

Personal injury attorneys will file a lawsuit to protect your rights and secure a court judgment. However, even if the attorney agrees to wait on getting paid until the case is resolved there will be costs along the way for witnesses, documentation and other things. Unfortunately, you may have to pay for these out-of-pocket expenses. Here are some ways for you to cover the expenses you may be expected to pay.

Take Out a Personal Loan

You may be eligible to be approved for a personal loan, or signature loan, that will finance your legal expenses. This type of loan does not require collateral like a car title or a second mortgage. Typically, the prevailing interest rate will apply as you make payments until the lawsuit is concluded.

[Read more…] about How to Fund a Personal Injury Lawsuit to Get the Settlement You Need

Running out of Sick Days? How to Balance Chronic Illness and Work

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Most companies today allot a certain number of PTO (Paid Time Off) days or hours for their employees. However, many employees may suffer from a chronic illness that requires them to miss more work days than normally allowed. If you’re running out of paid sick days for the year, following these tips can help you balance chronic illness and work and may keep you out of financial hardship.

Get a Proper Diagnosis

You may assume that you’ll be fine with time, but you could be suffering more than you have to if you don’t get the correct diagnosis from a doctor. Your doctor may even be able to write a note to your employer explaining your situation if you have a proper diagnosis, and this may help you get extended sick pay. The information that you receive about your diagnosis from your doctor can also be used to let your employer know exactly how much more time you expect to miss from, and this can be effective in bridging better communications with your boss. Not only that, but getting an official diagnosis can make it a great deal easier to get the care you need to fully recover.

Track Your Triggers

Certain triggers may be behind your symptoms, and eliminating these triggers can allow you to recover faster. Allergies caused by certain foods and environmental factors often lead to chronic illnesses, and an allergist can test you to determine if you’re suffering from allergies. Food allergies and intolerances that aren’t life threatening are often overlooked as being symptoms of something completely unrelated. Because of this, it’s important to be aware of any history of auto-immune disorders or food intolerances in your family history. On the other hand, environmental factors such as workload and even flickering lights can trigger debilitating effects. If your chronic illness is related to stress, methods like yoga, meditation or counseling can help you maintain your mental and physical health. No matter what the cause, however, tracking the factors surrounding episodes of illness are important to help your doctor make a proper diagnosis. [Read more…] about Running out of Sick Days? How to Balance Chronic Illness and Work

Lost Wages? How to Get the Compensation You Deserve

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Missing time at work could put you at a serious disadvantage when it comes to being able to pay your bills. If you’re missing work due to an injury or an accident, you may be entitled to receive some compensation. Here are some of the ways that you can go about getting the compensation that you deserve.

There are a variety of different types of accident and unfortunately each one may require a different approach to getting compensation. For instance an injury sustained on the job will require that you proceed with a “worker’s compensation” claim. In this case it is important that you give both your employer and the Doctor that this is a work related injury.

If it is another type of injury such as an auto accident then you must take slightly different steps. Of course you still need to notify your employer that you are injured and can’t work but you must document different things. [Read more…] about Lost Wages? How to Get the Compensation You Deserve

Long-Term Disability Benefits: How to Manage Finances after an Injury

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When you’ve been injured, life can change dramatically, temporarily or permanently. A decreased income can often lead to a lot of financial stress, making recovery more difficult. There are a few things you can do to ease the stress.

Create a Budget

There are two steps to this. First, create a budget that outlines all of your current expenses. Then, create a budget that works for your new, reduced income. Look at the first budget to see which, if any, of your current expenses can be immediately cut.

Refinance or Ask for a Forbearance on Your Mortgage

If you own your own home, [Read more…] about Long-Term Disability Benefits: How to Manage Finances after an Injury

4 Ways Workers’ Comp Can Impact Your Personal Finances

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Getting injured on the job can have some serious implications for your career, personal life, and finances. For severe injuries, you may struggle with the downtime as you recover. What’s more, your workers’ compensation claim may be delayed or denied depending on several factors. A workers’ compensation claim can cause substantial financial difficulties as you may not be able to work because of the injuries. Here are four ways in which workers’ comp can impact your finances and how you can safeguard your finances.

Medical Care Payments

Most workers’ compensation claims can take months to get resolved, particularly if there are disagreements between you and the company’s insurance companies. Conflict may arise if the insurer disputes the accident or the extent of the injuries. This can happen if [Read more…] about 4 Ways Workers’ Comp Can Impact Your Personal Finances