Random Illinois work comp info you should know

I came across this item which I had written a long time ago. It’s not well organized, but here are a bunch of relevant facts for injured workers.

All injuries received while working are not necessarily compensable injuries under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act – the injury must arise out of and occur in the course of employment.
Just because an injury occurs outside the work place does not necessarily mean it is not a compensable injury under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
In addition to specific injuries, repetitive trauma injuries, where a worker’s body breaks down because of the repetitive nature of their work, can also be compensable under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
The benefit to employers of the Workers’ Compensation Act is that injured workers cannot usually sue for things like negligence or pain and suffering.
If you are injured at work, under most circumstances the only legal remedy you have against your employer is under the Workers’ Compensation Act – it should be noted, however, that the "exclusive remedy" provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act only applies to employers – in other words, the Workers’ Compensation Act does not prevent an injured employee from seeking damages against defendants other than his employer who may be responsible for his injuries.
A workers’ compensation insurance carrier in Illinois is also subject to the same restrictions as the employer – for example, neither an employer nor an insurance carrier can interfere with an employee’s exercise of his/her rights under the Act or discriminate against, threaten to discharge, or refuse to re-hire an employee because of their exercise of such rights.
A copy of the Attorney Client Representation Agreement must be filed with the Application for Adjustment of Claim.
A worker who comes into Illinois for an out of state employer can be subject to and eligible for benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
The statute of limitations under the Workers’ Compensation Act is an Application for Adjustment of Claim must be filed within 3 years of the date of accident, or two years after the last payment of compensation (weekly benefit payments or medical payments), whichever is later.
If you are off work for a work related injury, you are entitled to benefits equal to 2/3 of your average weekly wage up to a statutory maximum.
Injured workers are entitled to three separate benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act: medical benefits, temporary off work benefits and permanent impairment benefits.
If you hire an attorney to pursue your claim at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, that attorney is generally entitled to receive 20% of any award you receive. Generally, those attorneys are not entitled to hourly payments for the work they do on your behalf. This fee arrangement is a "contingency fee" fee arrangement.
Even after an arbitrator enters an award on behalf of the employee, there is a multi-stage appeal process that can take years to go through – specifically, the arbitrator’s award can be appealed to a three commissioner panel, then to the Circuit Court, then to the Appellate Court, and even possibly to the Supreme Court (of Illinois).
On average, less than 5% of the cases filed at the Workers’ Compensation Commission actually proceed to hearing before an arbitrator.
Just because a contract exists defining a worker as an independent contractor does not necessarily mean that worker will not be considered to be an employee under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
The most important factor in determining whether an alleged independent contractor is actually an employee under the Act is whether the alleged employer controlled the manner in which the work was performed.
Minors have the same rights and obligations as adults under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, except that illegally employed minors may reject their rights under the Act within six months after an accident and may sue the employer under the common law.
Aliens have the same status as other employees under the Act, except that death benefits are reduced by half when the beneficiaries of those aliens do not reside in the United States, Mexico or Canada, except as otherwise provided by treaty.
Domestic servants employed by a family (e.g a nanny) are not automatically covered by the Act unless the employer elects to come under the Act or if the domestic servant is engaged in extra hazardous activity.
The aggravation of a pre-existing condition or disease may be an accidental injury and may be compensable under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
In some states, it need only be shown by the injured worker that some risk of the employment contributed to the injury – this concept is sometimes referred to as the "positional risk doctrine" – Illinois has expressly rejected that concept. In other words, there must be a risk of the employment to the employee that provides a risk greater than the risk provided by the general public.
The burden of proof under the Illinois Act is that the party seeking an award must prove each element of their claim by a preponderance of the evidence.
If an employee indicates on a former application for group health insurance benefits that an injury is not work related, that by itself does not necessary mean that compensation will not be awarded by the Commission.
A mental or psychological condition that results from a work related physical injury is compensable under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
Psychological or mental disabilities without physical injury are much harder to prove – in those circumstances, the employee must show that he suffered a "sudden, severe emotional shock" traceable to a definite time, place and cause which caused the psychological injury or harm.
Heart attacks, strokes, aneurisms, pulmonary embolisms and thrombophlebitis can be compensable conditions under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act if they are causally related to the employee’s work activities.
Suicide can be compensable in Illinois if the cause of the suicide is traceable to an original compensable accident.
Even if the cause of an employee’s injury is internal to them, or "idiopathic" that injury can still be compensable if some aspect of their work significantly contributed to the injury.
Assaults by co-employees or others are not compensable under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act unless the altercation arose out of something work related and the injured worker was not the aggressor.
As of September 1, 2011, Intoxication from alcohol or drug use will not necessarily prevent an injured employee from receiving workers’ compensation benefits, unless the intoxication caused the injuries. Under the Illinois Act, if the worker fails a drug or alcohol test, they have the burden of proving that the intoxication was not the cause of their injuries.
If an injured employee’s work activities require them to travel, their injury will be considered to be covered by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act as long as the activity they were performing at the time they were injured was foreseeable to the employer.
Injuries occurring in employer controlled parking lots, even after an employee has clocked out, can be compensable under certain circumstances.
Injuries resulting from medical treatment rendered at the request of the employer’s physician are compensable.
If an employee is engaged in recreational activity, his injuries will only be compensable if the employee was compelled by the employer to participate in the recreational activity.
If the injured employee is authorized off work by a physician because of a work related injury, he/she will be entitled to payments of 66-2/3 of their average weekly wage, commonly referred to as temporary total disability benefits.
All non-medical benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act are paid on the basis of an injured employee’s Average Weekly Wage, which is an independent calculation under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act from what an employee receives in compensation from their employer – the calculation of average weekly wage can be quite complicated.
Failure to cooperate with medical treatment or rehabilitation efforts may result in the suspension of temporary total disability benefits.
An injured employee is entitled to include the wages from a second job, or concurrent employment, with her average weekly wage if her employer was aware of the second job.
An employee has the right under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act to choose two different physicians, and any physician those doctors refer them to for the treatment of their work related injury as long as that treatment is considered reasonable and necessary. As of September 1, 2011, If the employer has a preferred provider network, the employee must choose from that network. If the employee opts out of the network, they will then have just one physician choice.
If an employee’s work-related injuries restrict him from returning to his prior employment when he recovers, he will be entitled to the payment of 2/3 of the difference between what he could have made in his previous employment and what he is able to make within his permanent medical restrictions on a weekly basis. As of September 1, 2011, a worker can receive these benefits until age 67, or for five years after the benefits were awarded, whichever is later.
If an injured employee’s injuries prevent him from ever returning to any type of employment, he will be entitled to 2/3 (under some limitations) of his wage on a weekly basis for the rest of his life.
If an employee’s medical benefits or temporary total disability benefits are suspended improperly by the employer, the Workers’ Compensation Act does allow for an expedited hearing process.
The employer is entitled to have an injured employee examined by a consulting physician from time to time under the Act as long as the employer pays a mileage expense to the injured worker.
If an injured worker suffers some disfigurement to the hand, head, face, neck, arm, leg (below the knee), or chest (above the auxiliary line), they will be entitled to disfigurement benefits under the Act.
If an injured employee recovers from an injury fully and is able to return to work, he/she is still entitled to permanent partial disability as a result of that injury in most cases.
Even if no doctor says that an injured employee cannot return to work because of permanent medical restrictions related to their work-related injury, they could still be permanently totally disabled if they are unable to find employment because of their medical restrictions.
Dependents of a fatally injured employee may be entitled to benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act – the issue of eligibility can be quite complicated and often requires a sophisticated evaluation.
If an injured employee obtains proceeds from a common law action that arises out of his/her workers’ compensation injury, the employer may have a lien for any workers’ compensation payments made.
If an employer acts in a retaliatory manner towards an injured worker for seeking workers’ compensation benefits, there are many tools available to the employee to protect his/her workers’ compensation rights.
If an injured employee receives group short or long term disability benefits for an injury that is eventually considered to be a workers’ compensation injury, the employee’s employer may have a credit for those payments if it paid a portion of the premium for the disability policy.
If a worker injures the same part of the body a second time (with the exception of the neck, head and back) and she received workers’ compensation benefits for the first injury, her employer will get a credit for those past payments, even if the past payments were made by a different employer.

By Michael Helfand