The Long Island work injury lawyers at Polsky, Shouldice & Rosen, P.C. have assisted thousands of injury victims who were hurt on the job. Call us at (718) 285-6764, or submit our online case evaluation form to discuss your case with an experienced workers comp attorney. Below is some general information about which kinds of injuries are usually covered by workers compensation, and which are not.
Injuries Not Usually Covered by Workers Compensation
Workers compensation will cover most on-the-job injuries, but not all of them. The intention of workers compensation is to provide benefits and wages to workers injured on the job, even when the injury is caused by their own or their employer’s carelessness. When a valid claim is denied by workers compensation, it may become necessary to hire Long Island work injury lawyers to assist in recovering damages.
However, if an employee is injured due to the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol, it’s unlikely that they’ll be eligible for workers compensation for that injury. In addition, workers compensation coverage is usually not provided under any of the following circumstances:
Repetitive Motion Injuries
More than six million workplace injuries occur every year in the United States. A growing percentage of those injuries are repetitive-motion related. They are commonly referred to as any of the following:
Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common repetitive stress injury. This is because so many people in the workforce use repetitive motion all day long while typing on a computer keyboard.
When repetitive motion injuries are detected early, they can often be cured with a combination of these treatments:
In extreme cases, carpal tunnel syndrome can cause permanent disability. Workers compensation covers most repetitive motion injuries that are work-related, even the most serious of cases.
The American Institute for Preventative Medicine blames stress for causing almost two-thirds of physician’s office visits. Stress is also a major factor in the development of cancer and heart disease. Digestive problems due to stress are even more common.
More so than in the past, job-related stress that causes physical or mental illness is often covered by workers compensation. However, only about half of the States provide workers compensation coverage for stress-related illnesses. Regardless of whether or not stress caused by your job is covered, it is the employer’s burden to reduce that level of stress if it develops into a disability for the employee.
When a stress injury is diagnosed as a post-traumatic stress disorder, it is often covered by workers compensation. This is usually true even when the injury resulted from a one-time event. However, every case is different and should be discussed in detail with qualified work injury lawyers in Long Island.