Workers compensation is an insurance that employers and business owners provide to their employees. It takes care of medical expenses, physical therapy and wages lost in the event of workers’ injury. Services of an Orlando workers’ compensation attorney will ensure the payment of these benefits in full, especially when the injured employee is in the dark about his or her rights.

This policy is absolutely necessary seeing as workplace accidents are inevitable no matter how well-equipped an organization is to avoid them. The severity and occurrence can only be minimized with proper care and safety measures but never completely eliminated due to the nature of some jobs and the nature of humans. However, safety measures at workplace go a long way at limiting the number of accidents and hazards at work.

Some industries, like the construction industry, are more prone to accidents than other industries. Such high-risk organizations need greater safety measures and compensation plans. On-the-job accidents and hazards can be as mild as a scratch or as severe as resulting in permanent damage, illness or even outright death. The advice of a worker’s compensation attorney in Orlando should be sought by workers in such industries.

Common Summer Workers’ Compensation Claims in Orlando

Most workplace accidents and consequent injuries and claims are higher during summer. Some of the common summer accidents occur in the construction industries including road and building construction, then boating, health and hospitality, farming, and landscaping industries.

Some of the common summer compensation claims by Orlando workers include:

• Slip and Fall Accidents. This can affect workers across many industries irrespective of whether it is an indoor or outdoor job. The injuries can be mild or severe resulting in broken bones, lacerations, internal and external injuries, including brain injury.
• Vehicle Accidents. Summer is often packed with tourists causing higher vehicular movement on land and sea.  At times, injuries from transportation accidents are fatal and most outdoor workers are exposed to it.
• Occupational illnesses are contracted in the course of the job due to the nature of the job. This is prevalent in chemical industries and hospitals.
• Heat and chemical burns can occur in thermal, chemical and electrical forms.

The Florida Workers Compensation Laws stipulate certain entitlements for workers who sustain an injury on the job. These include medical care and treatment, payment for lost wages, reimbursement of travel expenses incurred in the process of treatment, disability payments and benefits, and job retraining.  

If a worker in Orlando sustains an injury at work, there is Workers’ compensation designed to cater to the benefits of that injured worker. These benefits can take care of lost wages and medical bills. An Orlando workers’ compensation attorney will be in a better place to tackle these legal battles and ensure that the employer gets his/her full benefits.

There are workers’ compensation attorneys in Orlando that a worker can approach to help claim these benefits. But first of all, the injured employee must report the accident to the employer as soon as possible, definitely not more than 30 days after the accident.

Nice to see the City of Orlando finally have to pay my client over $230k, after trial victory was upheld on appeal!!

Another big six-figure trial win for one of our client’s in Marion County! We recovered lost wages, disability benefits and payment for medical bills. I was happy to help this injured tree worker receive the compensation she deserved! I am not afraid to take a case to trial and welcome the opportunity if necessary to secure the maximum recovery.  Of the 100,000 lawyers in Florida…Only 187 of us are Board Certified in Worker’s Compensation Law. Call me if you have been injured on the job, the Consultation is always Free. 407-839-1160.

Potentially Dangerous Jobs For Teens

Many parents this summer will encourage their teenage sons and daughters to seek temporary summer jobs for extra income and valuable life skills. However, these seemingly harmless summer jobs are known by many an Orlando workers compensation attorneys to be the most dangerous. According to the National Consumers League, a teen is injured at work every 9 minutes, and a child employee in the US dies as often as every 14 days. Youthful and inexperienced, teenage employees are often left to perform tasks that more experienced professionals avoid for obvious safety reasons.

Hazardous Jobs for Minors

The chief causes of workplace injuries for teens involved heavy machinery, falls, and exposure to chemicals. Sadly, without consulting with an Orlando workers compensation attorney many young workers are unaware of their rights in the workplace or the enormous risks present in many worksites. The most dangerous jobs for teenage workers, including the highest rates of serious injury and accidental death, were found in these common fields:

• Agriculture
• Construction
• Landscaping
• Traveling Sales

Minors Hiring Workers Compensation Attorney in Orlando

Florida statutes on workers compensation are very clear and even more protections are added to ensure the well being of minors in employment. An Orlando workers compensation attorney will usually only have 2 years to file a claim before reaching a statute of limitations. However, when the injured employee is a minor, the time can be extended until that employee is of age. Furthermore, Florida statute §440.54 specifies drastically serious penalties for employers who are found in violation of child labor laws when a minor is injured. The employer, not the insurer, can be held responsible for as much as double the compensation costs.

The crucial difference between this situation compared to when an adult files are the calculation of long-term benefits. A slight injury that is healed within a few months can be quickly compensated, but if a minor is permanently disabled then he or she is entitled to the full potential of lost wages. Unlike adults, whose compensation would be adjusted according to their current wages, the “future earning capacity” of a minor over the course of a lifetime is more difficult to ascertain and exorbitantly higher in cost. Clearly, the wages one was earning in a part-time summer job would not accurately reflect the eventual income of what one would have earned had an injury not prevented the normal completion of school and an established career. The duty of an Orlando workers compensation attorney is to emphasize the full extent of damages when an employee is injured so early in life. 

How to Stay Safe

The best protection that teenage employees can use when starting a summer job is a full and complete understanding of their rights under the law. Minors are limited in the type of work and the hours they can be expected to work. Any workers compensation attorney in Orlando will encourage a young employee to refuse any work that seems hazardous, offers poor safety training, or requires travel or long periods free of adult supervision. 

Speak with Your Disability Attorney in Orlando about Work

A common difficulty witnessed by disability lawyers in Orlando, FL is the frustration experienced by disabled clients who very much want to work but have trouble finding employment suitable to their physical limitations. Earning disability benefits does not restrict a person to only one income source. It is both acceptable and recommended for people with disabilities to complete at last part-time employment to supplement their existing benefits. Staying independently employed is financially useful while also improving the emotional and mental stability of people who often struggle with fatigue and depression as a result of physical disabilities.

Unfortunately, finding suitable employment in today’s economy can be difficult, worse still when physical disabilities prevent you from most jobs that require standing, lifting, or strenuous movement. Talk to a disability attorney in Orlando about any of these possible careers considered most suitable for people with physical disabilities.    

Accounting and Bookkeeping

Financial institutions are one of the leading employers of workers with disabilities. Accounting, finance management, analysis, and consulting are all high demand fields that require very little physical exertion. Furthermore, many of these jobs can be performed with flexible working hours that will not interfere with any necessary therapy or doctor’s treatments. 

Pharmaceutical Aids

Pharmaceutical companies have shown a growing trend in hiring employees with disabilities for both sales and pharmacy technicians. Again, these jobs are some that require very little physical exertion, and a firsthand familiarity with the medical field gives workers with disabilities a unique advantage. Constant record keeping and medical transcription are also highly in demand in the medical field.    

Vocational Counseling

It is no surprise that many who succeed in creating independent and financially stable careers despite physical disabilities later wish to share the knowledge they have gained. Physically disabled adults are often stressed by the confusion of doctor’s visits, medications, insurance paperwork, and hiring disability lawyers in Orlando, FL. Counseling helps provide resources, support, and advice the ease of burden of living with a disability.    

Call Center Staffing

Many call center companies provide excellent insurance benefits and are more than willing to provide specialized seating and other amenities for employees in need. Some employers even offer work-from-home settings that provide added convenience for workers whose disabilities make it difficult to leave the house.

Legal Aid or Physician’s Assistant

As the assistant position, such as paralegal or doctor’s aid, would mostly be responsible for data entry and other clerical duties that require very little physical work. Some of these jobs require only a 2-year degree or an easily obtainable certification. Disability lawyers in Orlando, FL are often pleased to employ assistants with firsthand experience in order to better serve their clients.

Computer Programming and Software

The increased demand for computer programming and coding has created employment opportunities for a variety of skill levels across the globe. Coding can be learned quickly through numerous training programs often provided by employers themselves. Living in the fast-growing digital era means that computer jobs are widely available with opportunities to work from home with very little inconvenience.   

“Herbert M. Hill, P.A. is a law firm located in Orlando, Florida, whose practice focuses on Short and Long Term Disability Claims and Appeals.”