Illinois Workers Compensation Law Blog

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By: The Law Offices of Michael J. Helfand L.L.C.

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Mike Helfand

Latest from Illinois Workers Compensation Law Blog

Twice a year the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission updates the Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) and Temporary Total Disability (TTD) rates for the State of Illinois.  These are maximum payments based on your injury date. So if you’ve been injured on the job since July 15, 2018 this post is for you. If your accident was before then, nothing has changed.  These new rates will be in effect for all injuries through January 14, 2019 at…
If you have a suffered a work injury in Illinois, the best-case scenario is to receive excellent medical care and recover well enough to return to work without restrictions. Unfortunately not every case works that way.  Sometimes you get “better” but aren’t nearly as healthy as you used to be and can’t do your old job. When that happens, your doctor will often recommend a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE). So what is a Functional Capacity…
A caller to my office wanted to know if his situation was normal for an Illinois workers’ compensation case. Long story short is that all of his bills have been paid as has all of his time off.  His attorney called him in January and said to expect a settlement offer any day.  Well here it is more than ten months later and any day hasn’t happened yet.  So he wanted to know what to…
We are Chicago based workers compensation lawyers who help with claims anywhere in Illinois through our state wide network.  If you just have questions or want help with a case, call us for FREE any time at 312-346-5578 or fill out our contact form and we will call you….. For Electricians, knowledge means safety so must have special training and skills to do their work safely. Still, even the best-trained electricians are exposed to many…
A caller to my office had a unique case.  She had hurt her shoulder a while ago while working for a municipality in Illinois.  The medical bills have been accepted and paid.  Compensation was provided for all the time off work. The case has been ready to settle for almost a year and her lawyer can’t get a settlement offer. She’s rightfully pissed off that this has taken so long as she wants to move…
One of the basic principles of Illinois workers’ compensation law is that you can’t sue your employer for negligence.  Work comp isn’t a lawsuit so while you get those benefits, if your employer was careless and left a wet floor that you slipped on, you don’t have an additional lawsuit. This rule also applies if you are killed on the job.  Let’s say you drive a truck in a tandem with another driver.  While you…
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I firmly believe that EVERY Illinois employee should exercise their right to claim workers’ compensation benefits if they are hurt on the job.  This includes people who make a ton of money because often when you are injured and don’t have any income, the next thing that happens is you are broke. This point was made in an article I just read by former NFL player Nate Jackson. He discusses how many former players go…
Recently Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Deerfield announced that they would be closing, costing 1,000 workers their jobs.  These types of closings happen all of the time of course.  The question is, if you have a work related injury in Illinois and your company shuts down, how does that affect your case? Under Illinois work comp law you get three types of benefits, medical, TTD (lost time payments) and PPD which is a settlement at the…
I recently got a call from a woman with a bad shoulder injury.  It turned out not to be an Illinois case, she just stumbled upon my blog while researching her issues.  She actually needed a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorney and since I know a great firm there I recommended she call them. They hit it off and were scheduled to meet.  A day before the meeting was supposed to take place she called them…
I saw this posted on a legal Q&A forum and I thought it was worth discussing here.  An injured Illinois worker asked the following: I work in a hospital and I hurt my back crawling on a cement floor putting cell slides away on August 23rd the same day I told my Supervisor. My Supervisor told me to tell my other Supervisor and he was no where to be found. I went to the prompt…