Iowa Workers' Compensation
FREE CONSULTATION for potential clients
Attorney: Mike Murray, Des Moines, Iowa, (515)255-5554
Injuries at work
If you have an on-the-job injury, it is important that you report it to your supervisor or to whomever may be designated by your employer as the proper person to report injuries to. This should be done even if you do not believe the injury to be serious. Some injuries have a way of lingering and becoming more serious over time. Iowa Workers' Compensation laws require that the employer be notified of a job injury within 90 days. There are exceptions to this, such as when proper representatives of the employer have actually seen you sustain the injury. But why take a chance. NOTIFY YOUR EMPLOYER, cooperate with whatever forms you need to fill out regarding your injury, and make sure the injury is documented! You do not want to rely on someone's memory if you have to prove at a later date that you gave proper notice to your employer.
Attorney: Mike Murray, Des Moines, Iowa, (515)255-5554
Doctor selection
When you have been hurt on the job, your employer and/or their workers' compensation insurance carrier has the right to designate the doctor or medical care provider that you go to see. If you do not see the doctor that they designate, they often will not be required to pay for those medical services. You can, or course, go to any doctor you choose if you are willing to pay the costs. Your employer may require you to see their doctor as well, even if you pay for one on your own. If you become dissatisfied with the treatment provided by the doctor to whom you are sent, there are procedures available for you to communicate that dissatisfaction and occasionally it is possible to have the employer send you to see a different doctor. The basic rule is, however, that the employer has the right to designate the doctor that you see. If you have an emergency need for medical treatment, however, and it is not practical to obtain authorization for medical treatment from your employer, you are entitled to have emergency care paid for.
Attorney: Mike Murray, Des Moines, Iowa, (515)255-5554
Benefits
There are many benefits available in Iowa for injured workers. The major benefits provided include payment of authorized medical expenses, payment of mileage or transportation to and from the authorized medical care providers, payment of healing period compensation for the time that you are off work under doctor's orders, and you may be entitled to what is known as permanent partial or permanent total disability compensation payments if you have received a permanent disability. Healing period, permanent partial, and permanent total compensation is ordinarily paid weekly. The amount of each weekly compensation check depends on gross earnings, marital status and the number of dependents that you have. The number of weeks over which you receive permanent partial disability payments depends on the type of injury received and the extent of the disability that you have. In rare cases, permanent total disability may be awarded which may result in lifetime compensation payments. In the event that someone dies as a result of a work injury, compensation and benefits are available to certain survivors.
Attorney: Mike Murray, Des Moines, Iowa, (515)255-5554
Returning to work
It is best to return to work as soon as you are physically able to do so. It is wise to discuss this decision with your doctor and not to return to work before he recommends. You can also discuss with your doctor and your employer the possibility of returning to work on a light duty basis, or with restrictions, or even on a part time basis. If it is possible for you to return on part time basis, temporary partial compensation may be available in addition to the wages you receive for your part time work. Even after you have returned to work, it is possible to receive weekly compensation payments for a period of time IF you have received a permanently disabling injury. Your employer is required to make reasonable accommodations to disabled employees if you need to return to work under physical restrictions.
Attorney: Mike Murray, Des Moines, Iowa, (515)255-5554
Previous injuries
Many people are concerned that previous injuries may make them ineligible for workers compensation benefits. There are often arguments made that injuries of disablement existed before the date of your job injury, and these can become serious issues with regard to your ability to recover benefits under workers' compensation. However, the mere fact that you may have sustained pervious injuries to the same are of your body does not, in itself, disqualify you from receiving workers' compensation. Most injuries do heal with time, and simply because you were hurt once does not mean that you continued to be disabled by your old injury. Even where you are under restrictions, a new injury can aggravate a pre-existing condition and make it worse. The effect of previous injuries depends on specific factual situations and what the doctors have to say. In some instances you may be entitled to have a doctor of your own choosing examine you are your employer's expense. Never assume that an injury is not compensable simply because you have had prior injuries.
Attorney: Mike Murray, Des Moines, Iowa, (515)255-5554
Trial
The workers' compensation laws of this state are enforced through the office of the Iowa Workers' Compensation Commissioner. This is an administrative agency set up specifically to handle workers' compensation claims. You will not have to appear before a judge and a jury, but it may be necessary to appear before a deputy industrial commissioner. Deputy industrial commissioners are lawyers who sit as hearing officers to determine disputes in much the same way that a judge would. They are governed by laws, procedural rules, and administrative regulations but also have much latitude in deciding disputes. Most cases are settled without the need for a hearing, but many are also tried. Most cases that do go to hearing are resolved at the deputy industrial commissioner stage, but some deputy decisions do get appealed to the Industrial Commission, and a very few get appealed into the court system and occasionally all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court. You do not usually have to give testimony again though, once the case has been heard by the deputy. As with court cases, there is always some time necessary to get your case heard. There are some methods that can lessen the time it takes to get to hearing, but these are not appropriate in every case.
Attorney: Mike Murray, Des Moines, Iowa, (515)255-5554