Fitchburg Workers' Compensation

If you suffer job-related injuries in Fitchburg, you may be concerned about how you will pay for medical care or handle the wage loss from time spent in recovery. Employers in Massachusetts are supposed to procure workers' compensation coverage for their workers. You can make a workers' compensation claim to recover benefits for medical treatment, medical mileage reimbursement, prescription reimbursement, disability, vocational rehabilitation, loss of function, and disfigurement. The experienced Fitchburg workers’ compensation attorneys at Pulgini & Norton can help you navigate the workers' compensation system, which may present certain challenges.

Employers must provide workers' compensation insurance for all of their employees, even in small family businesses in which the family members are the employees. Under Section 1(4), an employee is anybody who is in the service of someone else under a contract of hire, whether it is implied or express, or written or oral.

There are some exceptions, such as seamen working in interstate or foreign commerce, anyone engaged in interstate or foreign commerce who is covered by federal laws for compensation for death or injuries, taxi drivers who lease cabs on a fee basis dissociated from the fares that they collect, or certain types of salesmen who work on a buy/sell or commission basis other than in a retail establishment.

Some people are reluctant to bring a workers' compensation claim because they are scared about what will happen to their job. It is true that unless your employment contract or union contract requires it, your employer does not need to hold your job open if you are injured on the job. However, the law does require you to be given preferential treatment for rehiring once you are ready to return to the workplace. Moreover, if you are considered a qualified handicapped person under Chapter 151B, your employer is supposed to provide a reasonable accommodation. This law defines a handicapped person as someone who is physically or mentally impaired, such as when one or more major life activities are substantially limited. A workers’ compensation lawyer in Fitchburg can help you determine whether an accommodation may be appropriate.

If you are hurt on the job, you should notify your employer and get medical attention as soon as possible. Under the workers' compensation system, you are entitled to adequate, reasonable medical care. For your first pre-arranged appointment, your employer may require that you go to see a doctor within its preferred provider arrangement. However, after that, you have the right to pick your own doctor for subsequent treatment, and you may change this doctor once without permission from the insurer.

The employer is supposed to fill out forms appropriately and notify its carrier of your injury. If you are unable to earn your full wages for five or more days, the employer needs to also provide notice to the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA). An adjuster must review the documents and investigate. The employer is supposed to provide these documents to the insurer to avoid a delay in your getting your first check. The insurer has 14 days from receiving the form from the employer to mail you a check or a certified letter of denial.

Sometimes workers leave on disability and come back too soon. If you come back too soon, you may be reinstated on workers' compensation benefits within the first 28 days of coming back, as long as you provide notice to your employer and its insurer that because of your job-related injury, you cannot keep working.

Located in Worcester County, Fitchburg has a population of over 40,000 residents. If you are injured on the job there, you may be entitled to workers' compensation benefits as well as other remedies. The workers' compensation system may be challenging to navigate. It is important to retain a knowledgeable Fitchburg workers’ compensation lawyer for your claim. At Pulgini & Norton, our experienced workplace accident attorneys can advise you on your claim. For a consultation, contact us online or call us at 781-843-2200.