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Author: Michael Serres, ESQ.

Can You Lose Your Job for Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

Queens |NYC| Brooklyn |Bronx Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

Your employer has a vested interest in not paying a workers’ compensation claim or in minimizing the amount paid to you, as any legitimate claims paid will typically increase their workers’ compensation insurance premiums. In addition, when you are off work because of an injury, your employer may feel the need to replace you to meet production goals. Can your employer terminate you because you’ve filed a workers’ compensation claim, whether in retaliation for filing the claim or to fill your position?

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Will a Pre-Existing Injury Bar You from Collecting for a New Injury?

Queens |NYC| Brooklyn |Bronx Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

Let’s suppose that you hurt your neck in a work-related accident a couple years ago, or five years ago, and you successfully filed a workers’ compensation claim. You recovered from your injury and went back to work. Now you suffer another injury at work, also to your neck. Will your employer be able to successfully deny your claim, arguing that the injury was a pre-existing condition and that the injury was not caused by your employment?

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Can You Still Get Workers’ Compensation Benefits if You Go Back to Work?

Astoria, Queens Workers Comp Lawyers

New York City | Queens | Brooklyn | Bronx Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
You were hurt on the job and out of work for a while. You’ve been able to find a job that your injuries allow you to perform, but it pays less than your prior position paid. Can you take the job at a lower wage and still get benefits under a workers’ compensation claim? The answer is yes.

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Hiring a Workers’ Compensation Attorney

Astoria, Queens Workers Comp Lawyers

New York City | Brooklyn | Bronx Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
If you have been injured at work and you need to file a workers’ compensation claim, here are some basic questions to ask to ensure you get the representation you need:

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Queens |NYC| Brooklyn |Bronx Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

Third Party Claims for Work-Related Injuries

You’ve been hurt on the job. Maybe you were in a car accident while performing the duties of your employment. Maybe you slipped and fell, or were hurt when a machine or tool malfunctioned. Your first course of action will likely be to file a workers’ compensation claim. Under New York law, when you’ve been hurt on the job, you have a right to seek benefits through such a claim.
But is that your only recourse to recover compensation? Not necessarily.

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What Are the NY Workers’ Compensation Cash Benefits?

Experienced Queens Workers Compensation Attorneys

Under New York’s workers’ compensation laws, if you have been hurt on the job, you are potentially entitled to compensation for:

All medical costs associated with the injury
A percentage of your lost wages or income
A cash payment for certain types of permanent injuries

To determine the amount of the cash payments to you for lost wages, the law starts with a determination of your average weekly wage (AWW) for the 52-week period immediately preceding your injury. If your injury prevents you from working at all, you may then receive up to 2/3rds of your average weekly wage. There is, however, a cap on the amount that you can receive per week—the current cap, established in 2015, is $844.29 per week. It’s important to understand that, if you are out of work because of a work-related injury, you must remain under the care of your doctor to qualify for cash benefits for lost wages. Depending on the severity of your injury, you may be entitled to benefits for up to 10 years, or even for life, if you are permanently and totally disabled.

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Workers’ Compensation | An Overview | Part Two

An Overview on Workers’ Compensation Queens, NY

In Part One, we talked about the origins of the workers’ compensation laws, as well as the basic framework–workers’ compensation essentially works as insurance that provides medical, wage and potential cash benefits to injured workers. In this blog, we’ll talk about fault and what you should do immediately following a workplace injury.

The New York Workers’ Compensation System is a No-Fault Law

Under the New York workers’ compensation program, it doesn’t matter who caused the accident—all that is required is that you were injured while working. Accordingly, even if it was your negligence or carelessness that caused the accident, you are still entitled to compensation. If your injuries are intentionally self-inflicted, you were intoxicated at the time the injury or you were performing tasks unrelated to your job at the time of the injury, you may not be eligible for benefits.

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Workers Compensation in Queens New York | Part One

Queens NY Workers Comp.

You’ve been hurt on the job and can’t work. You’ve heard about “workers’ compensation,” but you really don’t know what it is or how it works. You’ll be best served by hiring an experienced attorney to guide you through the process, but here’s an overview of the workers’ compensation system to help you better understand what you can expect.

Workers’ Compensation is Insurance

It’s helpful to think of workers’ compensation as insurance, because it really is. Under New York law, every employer (with very limited exceptions) is required to purchase workers’ compensation insurance, designed to cover the costs of benefits paid to any injured worker. Workers’ compensation insurance is intended to cover two types of losses:

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