“I was injured at work at one of my two jobs. How does this work? Will work comp pay me more? How will my injury affect my jobs?”
“I was injured at work at one of my two jobs. How does this work? Will work comp pay me more? How will my injury affect my jobs?”
If you are injured at work in Illinois, and you have two jobs, it can increase the value of your workers’ comp case, but there are specific things that need to be lined up correctly. Let’s go over an example:
1.) You work at Job # 1 as a UPS driver, and you injure your back / spine and both legs (with shooting tingling pain) while lifting a heavy package delivery for one of your customers.
2.) You work at Job # 2 as a cashier at a grocery store, and your work there is not as physical as Job # 1 (only a lot of standing and use of the cash register, and some light bagging of items.)
Key Things to Know:
1.) If you told Job # 1 about Job # 2 (and Job # 1 knows you are getting paid at Job # 2), then you can combine your wages for both jobs, as part of your workers’ compensation claim. If you hire an attorney and file an Application for Adjustment of Claim, then on the form, your gross average weekly wage will be a number combining both of your jobs, and this would increase the value of your case. Your TTD (temporary total disability) checks would be higher for when you are off work, and also, the overall settlement value at the end of your case would be higher.
2.) No matter what, you will want to be compliant with your medical care / follow your doctor’s orders, at both jobs (and everywhere else). If a doctor writes you off work, then you have to be off work, and you have to follow whatever restrictions there may be. Otherwise, the work comp insurance company may catch you on video doing something that you shouldn’t be doing, and it could give them a major way to fight your case and deny your benefits.
3.) It is possible that you could have work restrictions that Job # 1 at UPS could not accommodate, but that those restrictions would still allow you to work at Job # 2 at the grocery store. As long as you carefully follow your doctor’s orders, and make both jobs aware of your situation, then you would be ok.
Bottom line: This advice is extremely basic. There is a LOT that can go wrong for you if you do not have a work injury attorney on your side.
At the very least, you deserve a free and private talk with an experienced Illinois workers’ compensation lawyer. You are not committing to anything by just making a phone call, and you could learn things that could truly save your case and change your life.
Workers’ comp and personal injury attorney Peter D. Corti is one option for you for a free private talk at phone # (312)-782-8372, or contact me using our contact form (click here to contact us.)
