Most companies have Workers’ Compensation insurance. If you have a Workers Compensation Concord injury, you are entitled to compensation for any permanent disability that it caused. You are also entitled to temporary total disability benefits if you are certified by a doctor as being not able to work.
The reason that you need an attorney for your Workers Compensation Concord claim is because employers receive an incentive for having as few claims as possible. Your employer may even be insisting that you are exaggerating your symptoms. As a result of your employer’s resistance, they may have sent you to a doctor who sent you back to work and did basically nothing for your pain. Your Workers Compensation Concord attorney will refer you to a doctor who is well-acquainted with treating workers who have been injured on the job. Your doctor will also refer you to any other practitioners you need treatment from. These could be in the form of a chiropractor, a physical therapist, an orthopedic surgeon or another specialist in treating accident victims. If you are unable to work because of your injuries, your doctor will certify you as being temporarily totally disabled. Once your attorney notifies your employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance carrier of your disabled status, and they will be required to pay you temporary total disability benefits that are two-thirds of your average weekly wage. While you are healing, your attorney will be negotiating with the insurance carrier for a settlement of your case. If your case doesn’t settle, it will then be placed on the trial calendar at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Once the trial date comes up, your attorney will go before a judge at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and present your case. The defense attorneys for your employer’s insurance carrier will be there also. At trial, your attorney’s job is to prove that you received a work-related injury in the course and scope of your employment. If your attorney prevails at trial, the judge will award you monetary compensation based upon the level of permanent disability that you sustained from your injury.