While no employer is required by the government to provide complete disability benefits for their workers, there are several ways to ensure that you or your family are protected if you are injured on the job.
The Family Medical Leave Act and some state workers’ compensation plans require that employers provide, under certain circumstances, some disability benefits. If you are sick, pregnant or need to care for a family member, your employer is required, under the Family Medical Leave Act, to allow you to take up to 12 weeks off a year. If your employer threatens to take punitive action against you for taking time off for a pregnancy, covered illness or workplace injury you can seek protection under the Family Medical Leave Act. State workers compensation plans also require employers to offer benefits for workers injured on the job.
There are many ways to make sure that you can support yourself and your family in the case of a disability or an injury in the workplace. In order to attract new employees and keep the ones they have, many large companies provide disability benefits. The endurance and amount of benefits provided by employers varies depending on the disability coverage plan, the severity of the disability, the amount of pay you miss as a result of your disability and your personal financial needs. Most employers require employees who are injured on the job to take a drug test before they will provide benefits and or workers’ compensation benefits.
If your employer has agreed to provide you with these benefits or you are seeking assistance for a job related injury under workers’ compensation and you do not think that you are getting the coverage to which you are entitled, personal injury lawyers are available to represent you and help you obtain the benefits you feel you deserve. Personal injury lawyers not only help injured workers recover benefits from workers’ compensation plans but also from private disability insurance plans.
While most of the disability coverage and workers’ compensation offered by companies is short term, some larger companies do provide long-term disability coverage for severely injured employees. Usually the injured worker is required to pay premiums in the case of long-term disability coverage offered by their employers.
Many workers who are concerned that their job is too risky and their employer does not provide them with enough disability coverage, supplement their coverage with personal disability insurance. Many insurance providers provide disability insurance that covers workers who are injured both on and off the job. The amount of compensation you get from a personal insurance plan depends on how expensive the plan is, the severity of the injury, the amount of pay you miss as a result of your injury, your personal financial needs and your medical bills. Although it is always a good idea to be fully covered if you have a dangerous job, the insurance companies are always weary of fraud in disability cases and hold very stringent rules as to what constitutes disability and what they will pay.
Severely injured and disabled workers who do not have disability coverage can resort to Social Security for long-term benefits. If you cannot work because of disability and you need Social Security benefits, you should apply as soon as you become disabled. Although Social Security benefits do not begin until sixth month of disability, Social Security does provide Supplemental Security Income for the first full month after the date your disability claim is filed. If you feel that you are eligible for Social Security disability benefits, you can apply online or over the phone. Social Security does require extensive interviews for all disability claims.
By Alex Turman