Workers’ compensation benefits are vitally important for many injured workers and their families. As a result, injured workers in California should be familiar with the different types of workers’ compensation benefits that may be available to them.
Workers’ compensation benefits include protections for:
- Medical treatment and care – injured workers may be left with mounting medical care costs and they seek the medical treatment and care they need for the injuries they have suffered. Workers’ compensation benefits can help them with
- Wage replacement – injured workers may also be left facing no reliable source of income as they are unable to work because of the workplace injuries they have suffered. Depending on the nature of the worker’s injuries, they may be able to recover wage loss payments for temporary or permanent disability.
- Vocational rehabilitation – injured workers may also be able to receive vocational rehabilitation benefits for job retraining if their injuries have left them unable to return to the work they did prior to the on-the-job injury they suffered.
- Death benefits – for surviving family members of workers killed in a fatal workplace accident, death benefits may be available to help them.
Injured workers can be left struggling with how to put food on the table as their medical costs soar. They may be unable to provide for their daily needs while also unable to return to the job they rely on because of an injury suffered at work.
Workers’ compensation benefits are important no-fault benefits available to help injured workers and their families through the challenges they face because of a workplace accident or illness. Workers should be safe on the job but when they are not, workers’ compensation benefits can help protect them which is why it is important to understand what they offer and how they are available.