Workers Compensation

We spend much of our lives working and a large percentage of all serious injuries happen at work.

Typically, any injury that occurs at work, or within the scope of employment, falls under Worker’s Compensation.

If you are injured on-the-job, Workers Compensation is typically your only remedy. In other words, you are usually unable to pursue a claim for work-related injuries within the regular court system.

Your medical care for work-related injuries is generally covered by your Employer, even if you were considered to have been at fault in causing your injury.

Your Employer is responsible for the costs of necessary medical care following a work-related injury. With limited exception, your Employer also chooses the health-care provider you will see and treatment you'll receive.

Temporary Disability

If your medical condition prevents you from working, after a waiting period, you will receive Temporary Disability payments during your recovery period. During this period you must follow reasonable recommendations, including physical therapy, as prescribed by the treating physician. This is crucial, since it is possible for you to lose your job and/or workers compensation benefits, if you don’t comply.

You are often allowed to return to work prior to complete recovery. Your treating physician may determine you can return on a “light duty” status or with certain restrictions, provided that such work is available from the employer.

When you have reached maximum medical improvement, you will typically receive a doctor’s statement permitting you to return to work with no restrictions. The treating physician will often express a written opinion, or “rating”, as to the percentage of disability in the affected part(s) of the body.

Cash Settlements

Many Employees are unaware that, in addition to having their medical bills paid, they are entitled to make a claim for monetary compensation, based upon their resulting disability following the injury.

In Missouri, Employees have two years from the date of injury, or the date of the last treatment, to file a claim for compensation with the Missouri Division of Workers Compensation.

Compensation is based upon a percentage disability attributable to the injury and is also based, to an extent, upon the Employee’s average weekly wages at the injury. It is, therefore, possible that an Employee working at a very low wage could receive substantially less than a highly paid Employee for the same type of injury.

Unlike injury cases prosecuted in Court, there is NO recovery for pain and suffering under Worker’s Compensation; the sole factor being the percentage of resulting disability.

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at (314) 725-1880.

DISCLAIMER: THE PRECEDING INFORMATION WAS OF A GENERAL NATURE AND NOT MEANT TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR TO BE USED IN, OR APPLIED TO, ANY INDIVIDUAL SITUATION. THIS GENERAL INFORMATION IS APPLICABLE TO THE STATE OF MISSOURI AND MAY NOT BE VALID UNDER THE LAWS OF OTHER STATES. IF THE READER HAS SPECIFIC LEGAL QUESTIONS, HE OR SHE SHOULD CONTACT AN ATTORNEY.