Facts About Worker's Compensation - The Pain and Suffering of Florida’s Worker's Compensation Laws

[Joseph M. Maus]

If you are amongst the unfortunate thousands of individuals injured on the job in Florida every year, you probably already know some of the difficulties you will encounter. Florida’s worker's compensation system provides medical care for injuries suffered on the job, and wage benefits for the time period your workers compensation doctor says you cannot work, but one of the sad facts about worker's compensation is that it provides nothing to remedy the pain, suffering, and aggravation you will go through on your road back into the work force.

Florida’s worker's compensation laws are set out in Chapter 440 of the Florida Statutes. In its simplest form, workers compensation will allow you treat with a doctor that is authorized by the worker's compensation insurance company. What you don’t know is that you don’t get to control the decisions being made about your medical care. An insurance company adjustor usually located hundreds of miles away will choose which doctor you go to, when you go to see them, and many times, arbitrarily decide whether you get the medical care the doctor prescribes for you.

One of the other worker's compensation facts is that it provides a wage benefit. The problem is that it only provides you 66 2/3% of your average week’s wages during the 13 week period before your accident. For example, if you were making $500 per week before your accident, you would receive only $333 per week while on worker's compensation. With today’s economy, if you were having trouble paying your bills before you got injured, wait until you start to receive your worker's compensation checks.

Most Florida worker's compensation lawyers will agree: most of their new clients contact them because of the frustration and aggravation of dealing with the facts of the Florida worker's compensation system. “I once had a client blow out his knee on the job, I mean swelling like a grapefruit, and he was told he couldn’t have the MRI that his doctor prescribed for him because it was too soon after the accident date” says Florida worker's compensation attorney Joseph M. Maus. Maus says you will come across good adjusters that truly want to help the injured worker get back to work as soon as possible, and others that seem determined to delay providing any benefits at all, hoping the injured worker will just go away.

Many of Florida’s worker's compensation cases will settle for a lump sum of money after the worker has received medical care. While some of these injured workers have completed their care, Maus says many of the people settling their claims are just too frustrated and aggravated to stay in the system. “They would rather take control of their own lives than have some adjuster that doesn’t even know them making decisions that can drastically affect their quality of life”. Maus recommends contacting an experienced Florida lawyer who knows the facts about worker's compensation to discuss your options at the beginning of your claim. Even if you don’t retain the attorney, you can gain valuable information about what rights you do have through worker's compensation.

Maus says most Florida worker's compensation lawyers will handle cases on a contingent basis, meaning you don’t pay anything unless your case gets settled. He says to look out for the attorneys that want to take a percentage of your weekly wage checks, in addition to a percentage of any settlement you may obtain. “The facts are that worker's compensation checks are already small enough (remember 66 2/3%) without the attorney taking a percentage of the check.” With all the obstacles you face in Florida’s worker's compensation laws, you need an attorney that is going to look out for your best interests.

For more information about worker's compensation facts, contact Florida work accident compensation lawyer Joseph M. Maus at 1-866-556-5529 or email him today.