Workers’ Compensation is an important employee benefit and right. It’s designed to pay for treatment associated with injuries and illnesses that occur as you perform duties associated with your job. However, it can cover eight unusual injuries you may have never considered before now.
Company Events
At the company picnic, you trip while playing volleyball and sprain your ankle. Your injuries could be covered by Workers’ Comp. File a claim if you’re injured or become ill during a company-sponsored picnic or party, business meeting held off-site, corporate ballgame or any special event you attend because of work.
Lunch Breaks
You walk into the lunch room for your break, slip on the wet floor and break your elbow. Your injuries could be covered by Workers’ Comp. You could also consider filing a claim if you’re injured while picking up lunch at the corner deli for your boss since technically you are working, but your injuries won’t be covered if you are injured while grabbing lunch for yourself or a co-worker.
Travel
You’re rear-ended while driving to work and suffer whiplash. If you’re in your personal car, you can’t file a Workers’ Comp claim, but if that same accident happens while you drive a company car, you could be eligible for Workers’ Comp. It can also cover injuries that occur as you travel to business meetings, to meet clients or while visiting potential and current customers.
Diseases and Illnesses
Your company decides to remodel the offices, and you work on the same floor as the repairs. Because of the asbestos in the old ceiling tiles, you develop black lung disease. File a Workers’ Comp claim for this and other diseases or illnesses that occur because of your work.
Hearing Loss
After working in a noisy environment for a few year, you notice that you can’t hear as well as you used to. File a Worker Comp claim, talk to your Denver disability attorney and receive compensation for your impairment if you can prove that the hearing loss happened while you were on the job.
Mental Health Conditions
Your boss micromanages every project and places so much pressure on you that you can’t even go to work. Consider filing a Workers’ Comp claim if you become chronically stressed, depressed or traumatized on the job. Be prepared to prove that your condition is caused 100 percent by your work, and ask a medical professional to help you prove your case.
Pre-existing Conditions
The ruptured disc in your back was repaired years ago and hasn’t bothered you until you started performing repetitive lifting tasks for your job. Now, you may be able to file a Workers’ Comp claim because your job aggravated your preexisting condition.
Misconduct
While showing off your muscles for a cute co-worker, you lift a chair and promptly drop it on your foot. Your injury could be covered by Workers’ Comp since it can cover injuries even if they occur as you break a company safety rule or perform a criminal act. Before you decide to embrace misconduct, though, remember that it does not usually cover self-inflicted injures and you give up your right to sue your employer if you file a Workers’ Comp claim.
These eight areas are unusual but could fall under Workers’ Comp. As with any Workers’ Compensation claim, you must prove that the illness or injury was caused by your job and is work-related. Contact your Denver workers’ compensation attorney today to learn more. We’re here to help you figure out if you can file a claim, and we’ll work with you to get you the benefits you deserve.