What is Worker's Compensation? Part I

Workers' compensation is a type of insurance program that provides benefits to workers who are injured on-the-job or develop a work-related occupational illness or disease. In some cases, workers also may be entitled to workers' comp benefits if they have a pre-existing medical condition or illness that has been worsened by their work activities. The majority of Illinois workers are entitled to this important benefits program.

With limited exceptions, workers are entitled to workers' comp benefits regardless of who is at fault for their injuries. Some of the types of benefits that are available under the workers' comp system include:

All reasonably related medical expenses
Temporary and total disability benefits
Vocational rehabilitation
Death benefits

Under Illinois law, employers are required to provide workers' compensation for all of their employees from the first day they begin working for the employer. Most employers will buy a workers' comp insurance policy from a private insurance company, although some may receive permission from the state to self-insure.

In exchange for providing workers' comp, employers are protected against employee lawsuits to recover compensation for on-the-job injuries. In other words, workers who are harmed in a work-related accident generally cannot bring a lawsuit against their employers to recover for the injury; the workers' compensation system is their sole recourse.

Notifying the Employer
When a worker is injured at work, the first step the worker should take after seeking medical attention for the injury is notifying the employer of the injury. Under Illinois law, injured workers have 45 days from the date of injury to provide notice to their employers.

While this notice does not have to be made in writing, it is in the worker's best interest to do so. The notice should include such basic information as the date, time and place of the injury, a description of what happened and the worker's contact information. The worker also should keep a copy of the notice for his or her own records.

The Employer's Duties
Once the employer receives notice that one of its workers has been injured, the employer then must notify its workers' comp insurance provider of the injury. If the worker is out of work for more than three days due to the injury, then the employer also must notify the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission ("Commission"). The employer also must begin paying the worker temporary total disability benefits or provide the worker with a written explanation of why the benefits have been denied.

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