The benefits you receive come from your employer’s insurance carrier, not from your employer. After you have an accident, your employer immediately forwards your accident report to their insurance carrier. From then on, your employer should have no further involvement in your case. Instead, their insurance carrier will be the one handling your claim and paying your benefits.

There are three types of work injuries that are covered under the law:

1. Injuries caused from an accident during work. For example, tripping while you are walking or hurting your back while lifting something heavy.
2. Injuries caused from repetitive work. For example, repeatedly bending, lifting or typing.
3. Occupational illnesses caused by exposure to the work environment. For example, an illness caused by asbestos, dust or loud noises.

Typically employees must file claims with the Worker’s Compensation Board within 2 years of the accident (plus the notice to your employer which is required within 30 days generally), although in some cases such as conditions that do not arise until later or certain diseases this can be a certain amount of time from when you learned of the condition (or should have learned of the condition).

As a general matter, it is extremely helpful to file your claim as soon as possible after the accident, as it becomes more difficult to establish a viable claim the longer an employee waits for a number of different reasons.

The lawyers at Finkelstein, Meirowitz & Eidlisz will work with you to aggressively pursue the benefits you are entitled to, leveraging our nearly a century of combined experience to get you the maximum award as soon as possible.

It does not matter who caused the accident or whose fault it was. Fault is not an issue in Workers’ Compensation. Even if your accident was caused because of your own negligence or carelessness, you are still entitled to benefits.

You do not sue your employer to collect workers compensation benefits. Workers’ Compensation is a benefit that you are entitled to under the law if you have a work accident. It is not a lawsuit and you do not sue your employer to collect it.

You don’t have to pay us anything out of your pocket. In worker’s compensation, attorneys are not allowed to take money from clients directly. We will be paid a portion of your award directly from the Worker’s Compensation Board.

Workers’ Compensation provides money and medical benefits to workers who are injured on the job. In almost all cases, if you are injured during the course of your employment, you are entitled to receive Workers’ Compensation benefits. These benefits include medical expenses, lost wages, and money for your permanent injuries.

You do not have to stop working to have a workers compensation case. In fact, you do not have to lose any time at all to have a case.

There are three types of benefits available to injured workers:

1. Medical expenses. Any medical care and treatment needed for your work related injury may be paid under the Workers’ Compensation law for the rest of your life. This includes doctor visits, physical therapy, chiropractic treatment, medication, surgeries, prosthetics, assistive devices and home-care.

2. Lost time from work. If you are unable to work, you can collect up to two-thirds of your gross average weekly wage. Your gross average weekly wage is the average weekly amount you earned, before taxes, for the one year preceding your accident.

For example, if your average weekly wage is $750, the maximum you can collect per week is $500.

Also, your weekly benefit cannot exceed the following amounts listed below:

Date of Accident Maximum Weekly Amount
July 1, 1992 – June 30, 2007 $400
July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008 $500
July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009 $550
July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010 $600
July 1st of each succeeding year

2/3 of the average weekly wage of all workers in New York State.

3. Permanent injuries. In addition to the money you receive for your lost wages, you may also be entitled to a monetary award for permanent injury to your arms, hands, legs and feet, to your fingers or toes, any facial scars, and loss of vision or loss of hearing.

Even if you do not lose time from work, you may be entitled to compensation for your permanent, work-related injuries. Here at Finkelstein, Meirowitz & Eidlisz, LLP, we have learned that before contacting an attorney, many injured workers did not realize that they were entitled to this award. Incredibly, because employers and insurance companies are not required to share this information with injured workers, they save millions of dollars every year by not having to pay out money injured workers are entitled to receive.