Richmond, CA Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers has been helping injured workers recover workers’ compensation benefits for over 30 years. Call our Richmond workers’ compensation attorneys today for a free consultation if you or a loved one have suffered a work-related injury. We can help you navigate the workers’ compensation system and recover the most compensation possible after a workplace accident.

Our firm and our partners have been dealing with workers’ compensation insurance companies since 1990, having recovered in excess of $750,000,000 for our clients. When you hire a workers’ compensation lawyer at our firm, you will be hiring an attorney who has the experience necessary to obtain the largest recovery possible for you.

We can help you get to medical professionals who will treat your injury on a lien if you can’t afford treatment. This means that you won’t face any charge for treatment until your case ends. The reason doctors do this for us is because they know that we get great results when we handle a workers’ compensation claim.

A workers’ comp lawyer at our firm will handle your case on a contingency fee basis. This means that you won’t be charged a fee until and unless we obtain a financial recovery for you. The only fee we charge is a percentage of whatever recovery we obtain for you. No out-of-pocket fee or upfront fee will be charged for us to file a workers’ compensation claim for you.

At times, those who suffer injuries at work will be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit in addition to a workers’ compensation claim. This is especially true when more than one party is at fault for an injury. We have vast experience in filing both workers’ comp claims and personal injury lawsuits in relation to workers’ compensation cases.

Call us today for a free consultation, fill out this page’s free case evaluation form or text us from this page if you or a loved one suffered an injury at work. We can help you obtain financial compensation for lost wages, medical bills and more.

Workers’ Compensation Defined

If you are a sick or injured employee and your illness or injury arose out of or was caused by your work, workers’ compensation is intended to provide you with benefits. Workers’ compensation coverage can pay for medical expenses as well as benefits for permanent or temporary disabilities. It can also pay for lost wages as well as rehabilitation costs. In addition, it can pay death benefits to the families of employees who get killed at work.

Workers’ comp is considered to be social insurance since it relies upon a social contract between labor and management. Business owners, when they purchase and carry workers’ compensation insurance, get protected from civil lawsuits being filed by workers who are hurt at work.

Common Workplace Injuries in Richmond, CA

Common workplace injuries in Richmond include:

Exposure to Harmful Environments or Substances

According to the National Safety Council, this was the reason for more injuries which involved missing days from work than any other cause. Richmond’s largest employer is Chevron, and workers in the petrochemical industry can face being exposed to hazardous substances via skin contact, ingestion or inhalation. This can lead to long-term health problems like neurological disorders, respiratory diseases or cancer.

Overexertion

Overexertion is a common cause of workplace injuries. It is common in the transportation and warehousing industries. A common form of overexertion injury is getting injured while lifting heavy objects. Richmond’s fourth largest employer is UPS, and the city’s sixth largest employer is Amazon. UPS and Amazon workers may find themselves lifting heavy objects on a regular basis.

Trips, Slips and Falls

Trips, slips and falls are common causes of workplace injuries. They are especially common in the transportation, warehousing and agriculture industries. These injuries often include tears, strains and sprains. The average injury in this category leads to 14 days of work lost.

Being Struck by Equipment or Objects

Getting struck by falling objects or pieces of machinery or equipment is a leading cause of death in workplaces, especially in the construction industry.

Bodily Reactions and Exertions

These injuries occur when workers are engaged in excessive physical motion or strenuous effort. The cause is often repetitive actions. As a result, these injuries can be the result of most types of jobs.

Roadway Incidents

These injuries can involve cars, motorcycles or even trucks. They can involve pedestrians, passengers and drivers.

Compressed by or Caught in Objects or Equipment

Accidents like these usually involve employees having body parts caught or crushed by workplace equipment or objects. This can include workers crushed between heavy objects or caught by machinery that’s moving.

Workers’ Compensation Eligibility

There are numerous factors which affect if you are eligible to recover workers’ compensation benefits.

Employment Status

You need to be an employee in order to recover workers’ comp benefits. Freelancers, volunteers and independent contractors typically don’t qualify under the workers’ comp laws in California. However, these statuses aren’t always easily understood or straightforward. Employees are often misclassified by employers as independent contractors. There are specific rules in California with regards to when people count as volunteers or are actually employees. Should you find yourself initially being denied a claim and being told you’re not an employee, you should contact a lawyer and have them look into things.

The Illness or Injury’s Nature

Your illness or injury needs to be directly related to your work in order for you to qualify for workers’ comp. This may include injuries which you sustain while operating machinery, illnesses resulting from being exposed to hazardous substances, or trips and falls at work. Insurance companies commonly try to claim that illnesses or injuries aren’t work-related. When conditions are those that can theoretically be the result of non-work-related factors, it can be complicated, yet critical to sort out how your illness or injury occurred, and an attorney can help you do that.

Your Employer Needs to Carry Workers’ Comp Insurance

Your employer will need to carry workers’ comp insurance for you to be able to file a claim.

Steps to Take After an Injury in the Workplace

If you have an obvious injury, like a burn, fractured bone or laceration, immediately seek medical treatment. Your top priority is your health.

A lot of injuries aren’t immediately apparent and their symptoms won’t show for days, weeks or even months. This is why it is vital to seek medical attention as soon as you can so any injury you don’t realize you have can be documented. This documentation by a medical professional can then become valuable evidence when it comes time to file a workers’ comp claim.

The first step in terms of making sure a record of your injury is created is to tell your employer about your injury. This will typically mean alerting your immediate supervisor about the injury so an incident report can be created. Once you have reported the injury, it’s smart to see a doctor even if you do not think you are hurt. Doctors can check for “silent” injuries like internal bleeding.

Once you have gotten medical attention, do whatever your doctor says and be sure to dutifully attend all follow-ups. Failure to do these things can lead to an insurance company denying your claim or paying you less than you deserve.

It’s not exactly appealing to employers or workers’ comp insurers to pay for your lost wages, disability benefits and medical bills. As a result, they’ll do whatever they can to limit your payout, leaving you in financial distress after being injured at work. In addition to the obstruction they’ll provide, the workers’ comp system can be confusing and complicated. Due to all this, it isn’t surprising that the typical injured worker won’t be able to get what they are entitled to without assistance.

We are here to help you. Call us today for a free consultation so we can protect your legal rights and help you recover the compensation you deserve.

What Benefits Can I Receive Through Workers’ Compensation?

Those injured in California can receive workers’ comp benefits for many things, including:

Medical Treatment

Injured Californian workers have a right to medical treatment which is necessary for curing and relieving effects of injuries related to work. Under the law, workers are entitled to benefits which provide for reasonable treatment for any injuries suffered at work.

This can even include medical care for life. Medical treatment relating to work injuries may extend for very long time periods. You shouldn’t get forced to pay for costs related to work injuries at any time.

Temporary Disability

Temporary disability coverage is a safety net for workers who get hurt. If you are hurt at work and it prevents you from working, you could qualify for temporary disability benefits. These payments are usually two-thirds of your gross income, and are tax-free. Your gross income is your pre-tax earnings, which includes overtime, bonuses, commissions, tips, wages, etc. The amount of temporary disability benefits will depend on your circumstances.

You become eligible for these payments once a doctor says you can’t do your usual work for over three days, or if you get hospitalized overnight. These payments end when you go back to work, a doctor releases you for work, or a doctor says you have reached maximum medical improvement.

There is typically a maximum length of two years for temporary disability payments, but longer durations are possible for some injuries. Depending upon the injury date, duration could be expanded or limited, so you should discuss your situation with one of our lawyers.

Sometimes, when temporary disability isn’t available, injured Californian workers may file claims for state disability insurance through the Employment Development Deparment.

Permanent Disability

Payments for permanent disability get awarded to workers who get hurt and become permanently unable to do their normal work. These payments get awarded independently of medical treatment or temporary disability payments.

When doctors determine illnesses or injuries cause permanent disability, the injured worker gets assigned an impairment number. This number becomes a base for permanent disability payments.

The impairment number gets put in a complicated formula along with other factors. The result of this formula is called a disability rating. This rating is then converted into dollars.

These payments start within 14 days of the end of temporary disability payments. These payments are paid biweekly and continue until an amount correlating to a reasonable estimate regarding the total amount gets paid. Once the actual, final amount gets determined, any amount which is over the original estimate needs to be paid.

Job Displacement

Should you not return to work after being released by a doctor, you could be eligible for a voucher which is paid to a school. This is usually around $6,000 depending on the injury date.

Death Benefits

If a fatal medical condition or injury which is work-related occurs, or if a work injury contributes to a death, qualifying dependents are paid by workers’ comp up to $320,000 as well as up to $10,000 in burial expenses.

Call us today for a free consultation if you think your loved one died due to a workplace injury.

How Much Will I Receive from Benefits?

The amount of workers’ compensation benefits you will receive will depend on several factors, including the injury severity, your medical costs and your wage.

Injured workers in California are entitled to two-thirds of their pretax gross wage. There is a minimum and maximum allowable amount for this.

Certain companies have disability leave with pay programs. California law doesn’t require this. It makes up salary differences so you receive your whole income if you get hurt at work. They take what is paid by the state and add additional money to that so you get all that you’d normally get paid.

Your regular weekly wage is your annual salary divided by 52. So, if you make $52,000 per year, this would mean $1,000 per week. Two-thirds of this would be $666.66, which is what you’d be eligible for per week regarding wage replacement.

Should your employer utilize a disability leave with pay program, your employer would pay the remaining wage, which would be $333.34 each week. $666.66 would be paid by the state. No taxes get withheld regarding this $666.66.

Should you be permanently disabled, you could qualify for supplemental job displacement benefits. This can provide for as much as $6,000 for vocational skills training.

You’ll qualify for as much as $10,000 worth of compensation for hospital expenses, medication, physical therapy and doctor visits until your claim gets denied or accepted.

We know that trying to calculate the benefits you’re entitled to can be complicated and confusing. You might also have circumstances which can affect how the benefits get calculated, such as medical conditions which lead to you needing to receive multiple opinions from multiple doctors. It can also be challenging to try to meet various deadlines during the process.

If you require assistance, we’re here for you. Our lawyers help injured workers just like you with their claims. We have an office in Richmond and are here to help you.

Call us today for a free consultation.

California Workers’ Compensation Statute of Limitations

California’s workers’ compensation statute of limitations is one year from the incident date. It’s three years for federal employees, though.

This time limit to file a claim can be lengthened by things like comas, injuries which require lengthy treatment like serious burns, or contagious illnesses when quarantine is needed.

You have to provide your employer with written notice of your injury within a time frame of 30 days of any incident. You should give notice as soon as you can after an incident.

Qualities to Look for in a Richmond Workers’ Compensation Attorney

Your workers’ comp lawyer should have:

Expertise and Knowledge

We thoroughly understand and know California’s workers’ comp laws. We attend seminars regarding continuing education in order to stay up to date on all laws.

Experience

We have been handling cases like yours since 1990. We have experience in collecting evidence, negotiating with insurers, and navigating obstacles which arise.

Communication Skills

We listen closely to clients, write persuasively and speak clearly. These skills let us effectively present cases, advocate for injured workers and negotiate settlements.

Problem-Solving and Analytical Skills

We can handle complicated legal statutes, interpretations and medical records by dissecting complicated information, determining best courses of action, identifying relevant issues, and developing strategies to recover maximum compensation for clients.

Advocacy and Empathy

We care about the well-being of our clients and consider our clients family. We know the financial, emotional and physical struggles they go through. We advocate passionately for clients’ rights and provide support and guidance to clients.

Attention to Detail and Resourcefulness

Workers’ comp claims involve substantial evidence, medical records and documentation. This is why our attention to detail is important. We make sure all necessary documents and information is collected and presented in an accurate fashion. We resourcefully collect evidence and expert opinions to strengthen the cases of our clients.

Professional Network

Our network includes medical experts, attorneys and vocational rehabilitation specialists. These connections provide valuable insights and resources which help us to build strong cases.

Persistence and Tenacity

Workers’ comp cases can be complicated. Claims processes can involve numerous steps and obstacles. Our lawyers have the persistence, tenacity and willingness to fight for our clients’ right to maximum compensation.

Contact a Richmond Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today

Call us today for a free consultation if you or a loved one has suffered a work-related injury, illness or death. We can help you recover financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages, disability and more.

Remember: we won’t charge any fee to handle your workers’ comp case until and unless we recover compensation for you. Call us today.