Getting hurt at work can impact a lot of areas of your life including your ability to provide for your family. One of the biggest challenges you may face is the mounting medical bills to treat your injuries.
Depending on the severity of your injury, you may need rehabilitative therapy and ongoing recovery support.
Financial assistance
By law, your employer should have some kind of workers’ compensation policy. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, help with medical bills is one type of financial assistance you should have under your workers’ compensation benefits. Read through your company’s policy so you know which medical providers are in-network with their plan. Seeing doctors out of network could compromise your benefits and leave you to foot the bill.
Other forms of financial assistance you or your family may receive include the following:
- Assistance for lost wages
- Assistance for specific losses
- Assistance for death-related expenses
Returning to work
Because of the financial repercussions of having to take time away from work, you may desire to return as quickly as possible. Depending on your employer, you will have access to resources that allow you to resume your responsibilities with modifications designed to accommodate your disability.
Working together with your medical provider, you and your employer can assess your likelihood to make a full recovery and identify employment solutions from there. Some options you may have include telecommuting, modified responsibilities or temporary reassignment. If your injury is severe enough that you cannot return to your prior job, your employer can guide you to vocational support resources so you can look for alternative job opportunities.
