There are deadlines in Illinois workers’ compensation cases that can prevent you from getting benefits you may be entitled to, if you miss the time period. First, you are required to notify your boss of your injury within 45 days. And second, there is a statute of limitations, which is the time period that you have for bringing a claim regarding your injury and benefits. Missing these deadlines may mean missing your chance to receive benefits for your injury.
If you work in a warehouse and a box fell on your back and injured you, then your deadlines are easy to figure out. You can count the days from the date the box fell. But if you injure your back day by day lifting boxes, then the date of your injury becomes much more blurry, and more difficult to be sure you don’t miss your chance to bring your claim.
The safest course is not to wait, and to notify your employer as soon as you think your job may have caused your developing injury. You’ll want to see a doctor right away, and be sure to explain all of the facts of your situation: what type of pain or sensations you are feeling, and when you first noticed it; what types of situations cause you to feel pain; what your job duties entail; and what other activities your are involved in. Your medical records can help you to prove your workers’ compensation case, and of course, can help you get the necessary medical treatment.
Sometimes, though, you are not aware that the discomfort you are feeling is something that needs medical attention; or you might not associate the pain that has been escalating, with your job duties. By the time you look back and realize that your repetitive movements at work have slowly hurt some part of your body, it may seem too late to do anything about it.
But for these types of repetitive trauma injuries, the clock should not start to count down on your notice and filing deadlines until the time that it should be fairly clear that you are injured and it was related to work. You don’t have to stop working the minute you experience some pain, nor do you have to keep working until your body gives out, just so there would be a definite date of your injury. The date can instead be pinned to the time when a reasonable employee would discover that that he or she is injured, and it was related to the job. At that time, your periods of giving notice and bringing a claim would start to run.
Being aware of your body and the stress that it is under can benefit you in the long run—both in getting your medical treatment sooner to ensure a better recovery, and in starting a timely process to getting workers’ compensation benefits to pay for your recovery.
We are workers’ compensation attorneys who help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.