Submitted by pec on Tue, 01/02/2024 - 11:19 pec's Blog If you have experienced neck pain due to the work you have been doing at your place of employment, you may be able to file a workers’ compensation claim. This is financial help to assist you while you are recovering from your neck pain. Most employers take out insurance to cover their employees when they have become ill or suffered an injury at work. To qualify you have to satisfy the following requirements: You must be an employee, as contractors don’t qualify for workers compensation; Your employer must have workers' compensation insurance. Most states require any employer with at least one employee to have workers compensation coverage, but some states’ minimum is two to five employees; You must have a work-related illness or injury, such as hurting your neck while loading boxes as part of your warehouse job; You must meet your state's deadlines for reporting the injury and filing a workers' comp claim. For example, in California, a workplace injury must be reported within 30 days of the incident taking place and a workers' compensation claim must be filed within 12 months. Tip#1 Seek Medical Attention for the Neck Injury When you are injured you should see a physician that is approved for workers’ compensation claims. Tip#2 Get Diagnostic Tests to Confirm Neck Injury Get documentation from your physician confirming that that neck injury occurred at work There are some tests to prove you have a neck injury such as X-rays which can reveal areas in the neck where the nerves or spinal cord might be pinched by bone spurs or other changes. CT scans combined with X-ray images taken from many different directions produce detailed cross-sectional views of structures inside the neck which can show the cause of your neck injury Tip#3 Notify Your Employer Report the incident to your employer so an incident report can be filled out which you can use as evidence when applying for workers compensation. Tip#4 Jot Down Some Notes About the Accident When the accident takes place which caused the neck injury you should take notes about how the accident happened and what caused it. This evidence can be used to support your claim for workers compensation. Tip#5 Maintain Documentation That Supports Your Claim To help ensure your workers compensation claim is not denied you should keep all the relevant evidence so that you can use it at any time to support your claim for workers compensation. This includes: medical documents, witness statements, physician’s notes, documents showing you have missed work time due to injury. Tip#6 Continue With Follow Up Care You shouldn’t forget to see your doctor regularly so that you can make a full recovery from your injury. Tip#7 Consult With a Workers’ Compensation Attorney If your employer alleges that you don’t qualify for workers' compensation benefits you should consider consulting with a lawyer. Fill out the Free Case Evaluation to get connected with an independent attorney who subscribes to the website and may be able to help with your workers compensation claim.
