Getting Paid For Your Job Search

In a recent case that was decided before the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission the court held that an injured employee who could not return to her old job as a floor nurse dueto her restrictions was entitled to Maintenance benefits equal to her TTD benefits durring her self directed job search. The commission found that the injured worker applied for every job that she was qualified for at the hospital and at several other health care facilities. The respondent failed to offer her any assistance in her job search. Her treating doctors determined she was at MMI (maximum medical improvement), and the respondent terminated her TTD benefits.

Workers compensation cases can get very complicated. If you have a workers compensation case make sure you get an experienced workers compensation attorney on your side. Remember it is hard to play a game when you do not know the rules!

Employee wins work comp case for Wallyball injury

In an appellate court case an employee of the Elmhurst park district won his workers compensation case for an injury her received while playing Wallyball durring work hours. The petitioner was a fitness director who began playing a walleyball game when there were not enough players to get a game going. When he came down from a shot he injured his knee that required surgery.

His employer denied the claim, stating that section 11 of the workers compensation act barred the claim. Section 11 of the Illinois workers Compensation act states at the relevant part  ” accidental injuries incurred while participation in voluntary recreational programs do not arise out of and in the course of the employment.”

The arbitrator and the appellate court held that although wallyball is a recreational activity, his job was to help the customers on there fitness goals and he played wallyball not for his own reasons but to accommodate the employers customers, and awarded the injured employee benefits.

http://illinoisworkinjurylawyer.com/free-book-illinois-workers-comp.html

Illegal aliens are entitled to Illinois Workers Compensation Benefits

The Illinois appellate court recently held in the case of Economy Packing v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission 387 Ill. App. 3d 283 that an illegal alien worker is entitled to receive Illinois Workers Compensation Benefits if he is injured on the job.  In that case the court knew that the illegal alien used false documents to obtain the job,and  by doing so did in fact violate the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act makes it a crime for an employer to knowingly hire an undocumented alien.  The act requires employers to verify that a newly hired person is authorized to work in the United States. It also requires the employer to fire the alien if the employer finds out the employee is illegal or becomes undocumented.

The court in the Economy case awarded substantial benefits to an illegal alien who falsified documents to get a job.

In Illinois if you are injured at work you should be entitled to benefits under the Illiniois Workers Compensation Act.