Baton Rouge Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

When you sustain an on-the-job injury in Baton Rouge, your employer must pay benefits as required by Louisiana’s Worker’s Compensation statutes and must have a system in place to make sure you receive timely benefits.

Most Baton Rouge companies purchase a workers’ compensation insurance policy to pay for covered benefits. But some companies self-insure their workers’ compensation claims, meaning they pay claims directly out of their company funds. The state certifies self-insurers to ensure their program complies with Louisiana’s workers’ compensation standards.

Workers’ compensation in Baton Rouge pays various benefits for work-related injuries and diseases.

• Medical expenses based on a reimbursement schedule
• Mileage reimbursement for treatment-related travel
• Disability benefits based on your lost wages
• Vocational rehabilitation benefit
• Supplemental Earnings Benefits if you work but earn less than 90 percent of your average weekly wage
• Payments based on a schedule of benefits for permanent and catastrophic disabilities
• Death Benefits to qualified family members

Insurers usually have their workers’ compensation claims adjusters who intake and handle claims. An adjuster handles the day-to-day activities necessary to process your claim and pay your benefits. If an insurance company doesn’t have a claim office in the state, they must hire a licensed claims adjuster with authority to handle claims and make payments.

Self-insured companies usually designate a Claim Administrator. These individuals or independent companies do the same work as an insurance company’s claims adjusters, receiving injury reports, managing claims, and making payments.

In most instances, workers’ compensation coverage applies on your first day of employment and regardless of time status. The workers’ compensation statute’s Employees Covered section explains that “every person” is covered. It doesn’t designate coverage exceptions based on how long an employee was employed or on an employee’s status as full-time, part-time, seasonal, or minor. You may still qualify for benefits in some situations even if your employer says you are not an employee.

Some employees are exempt from workers’ compensation coverage under Louisiana law.

These include:

• Private residential workers
• Certain agricultural workers
• Musicians and performers rendering services pursuant to a contract
• Real estate brokers and salespeople
• Unpaid non-profit officers and directors

Workers’ compensation coverage in Baton Rouge pays benefits due to work-related injury or disease. Comp statutes cover physical injuries, mental illnesses such as PTSD, and occupational diseases such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

A workers’ compensation insurer or administrator pays for treatment from one doctor in each field or specialty. The medical bills must comply with Louisiana Medical Treatment Guidelines. Once they receive a bill, the claims adjuster must pay it within sixty days, or thirty days if it’s an electronic bill.

Once you cannot work for seven days due to a covered injury, you are eligible for Temporary Total Disability (TTD) or Permanent Total Disability (PTD) payments. When your TTD or PTD benefits are due, the administrator or insurer must pay them by the fourteenth day after the employer receives your injury report. You receive compensation for the first week of your disability only after being disabled for two weeks or longer.

The amount of your TTD or PTD wage loss benefits is based on an annual schedule. The Louisiana Workforce Commission Office of Workers’ Compensation sets maximum and minimum payments based on the state’s average weekly wage.

Your Baton Rouge workplace injury isn’t compensable if it occurred during:

• Horseplay
• Intoxication
• Personal disputes
• Willful intention to injure yourself or someone else

It’s also possible to jeopardize your payments if you refuse to comply with a valid request for an additional medical opinion, in which case your employer or claim handler has the right to suspend your benefits.

In most instances of Baton Rouge work injuries, workers’ compensation coverage fulfills any legal obligations your employer has for your workplace injury.

There are exceptions, including:

• Your employer injured you intentionally or due to severe negligence
• Your employer failed to purchase a workers’ compensation policy and failed to certify for self-insurance

In certain Baton Rouge work-related injury cases, you may file a suit against a third party who caused or contributed to your work-related injuries, including when:

• A non-employer or non-coworker injures you in an auto accident
• A non-employer or non-coworker injures you in the workplace
• A manufacturer’s defective product injures you while working
• An owner of a property that your employer doesn’t own if that person failed to maintain safe premises and caused your injury

When you sue a negligent third party, your employer or its insurer has the right to join as a party to the lawsuit. They also have a right to protect their legal interests by seeking reimbursement from the negligent party without filing a lawsuit. You, your employer, and its insurer must comply with Louisiana’s legal procedures and file a lawsuit within one year of the injury-causing accident.