Exploring The Legal Process

One of the risks of having a manual job is that you are often in situations where you can get injured. If you have injured yourself recently and fear that you may not be able to continue working, then it is important to have a plan of action. It's a bad decision to just return to work and continue to perform manual labor, hoping that you will be able to work through the pain. That can result in a more serious injury. Instead, here is what you should do.

Visit a Doctor

The first step is to visit a doctor. You should not just keep popping pain pills hoping to suppress the pain and work through it. The pain pills can mask a serious issue. It might be more than a simple muscle spasm or sprain, it could be a ruptured disc. So, instead of just trying to self-medicate, visit a doctor and get yourself checked out.  

Consult With A Personal Injury Lawyer

If the injury is substantial enough that it will require you to leave work for an extended period of time, you will need to speak with a lawyer that understands workers compensation and social security law. The issue is not as simple as applying for workers compensation, no matter what your coworkers might have told you. For people who are dealing with extensive times off of work and serious injuries, there is the problem of how to deal with workers compensation and social security disability. A lawyer will understand the process of how to file for each.

The lawyer will need to assess your prior year's earnings in order to determine how to best apply for both workers compensation and also social security disability. They also will know the exact legal documents, as well as supporting evidence, required to file. The lawyer will know which doctors you will need to see, as well as what proof from your employer you will need to obtain (records of when you were working, the description of your job, etc...). All of this information is vital in order to successfully apply for and receive both workers comp and social security disability.

If you were working part time and already receiving SSDI, then you should definitely speak with the lawyer. In many cases, a person who starts receiving workers compensation and also SSDI will encounter an "offset". This means that your SSDI payment might be reduced. The social security attorney can fill you in on the specific regulations in your state, as well as inform you on any potential tax ramifications that you should be aware of.