General FAQ's

If the worker can prove that they were injured or poisoned at work, the employer is responsible for providing specific wage loss and medical care benefits.

Many employers buy workers compensation insurance. Others insure themselves under the supervision of the State of Illinois. In either case, all Illinois employers must post a notice in the work place explaining to its workers who to contact concerning work-related injuries, diseases and conditions.

Under the provisions of the Illinois Act, almost all workers are entitled to receive compensation for an injury received on the job. You may file a claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Illinois if:

• You are injured in Illinois, or
• Were hired in Illinois, even though the accident occurred in another state, or
• Most of your work is in Illinois, even though you may have been hired or injured out of state [for example, Indiana or Wisconsin] or,
• You were hired in Illinois and were sent to work in another state.

The Illinois‘ Workers’ Compensation Act covers most job-related injuries or diseases. You are generally entitled to benefits even if the accident was your own fault. In any dispute, however, workers must prove their entitlement to benefits. This is called “the workers’ burden of proof.” If you get injured during employer-sponsored athletic events, parties, picnics, etc. you will not be covered unless your employer ordered you to participate. In addition, if you sustain accidental injuries while participating in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program you will not be covered.

Unless your employer disputes, denies or contests your claim, when you get injured at work you are entitled to receive:

• All necessary medical, first aid and hospital care for the injury at no cost;
• If excused from all work by a doctor, disability pay equal to two-thirds of your average weeks wage during the 52 weeks preceding your accident, tax free (“TTD”); and
• If approved for “light duty” by a doctor, disability pay equal to two-thirds of the difference between your regular full pay and your after-tax light duty pay, tax free (“TPD”); and
• If entitled to vocational rehabilitation, pay equal to two-thirds of your average weeks wage during the 52 weeks preceding your accident, tax free (“Maintenance”);
• An arbitration award or settlement to compensate you for the permanent physical impairment or permanent lost earning capacity resulting from your injury (“PPD, Wage Loss, or PTD”).

Workers’ compensation is a generic term. It refers to a privately funded system of wage loss and medical care benefits provided, under certain circumstances, to workers injured or poisoned at work. The term also refers, however, to a state-run legal arbitration agency that resolves factual, medical, and legal disputes between workers and their employers over such benefits.