If you are a Target employee in Minnesota and you suffer an injury on the job, you might have options for receiving medical and financial benefits through workers’ compensation.
Below, the experienced Minnesota workers’ compensation lawyers atArechigo & Stokka will go over what happens if you are injured while working at Target.
If you have questions about your worker’s comp claim, contact our St. Paul workers’ compensation attorney today.
Common Causes of Workplace Injuries
There are many ways an employee can hurt themselves while working, but some are more likely than others.
According to the National Security Council, the most common reasons people suffer an injury at work are:
- Overexertion;
- Slips, trips, or falls; and
- Contact with objects or equipment.
Many injured workers suffer sprains, strains, and tears, and many injured workers suffer back injuries.
These injuries are common to many industries, and you could suffer any one of these injuries while working at Target. Workers’ compensation benefits are available for many injured workers to receive support in their efforts to recuperate.
Severe Workplace Injuries Happen Often
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that approximately 50% of 2019 private workplace injuries and illnesses in Minnesota were severe injuries.
The consequences of these severe injuries were days away from work, job transfers, and work restrictions.
An injury that takes you away from work or restricts your ability to work can negatively affect your mental well-being, physical well-being, and financial well-being.
To combat these negative effects, you can file a claim to receive workers’ compensation benefits from your employer’s insurance company.
Target workers’ comp claimants in Minnesota can find out which insurance company covers their claim by using the tools on the Department of Labor and Industry website.
What Workers’ Compensation Covers in Minnesota
Workers’ compensation provides many kinds of benefits that can support you in different ways. If you’re injured at work, your workers’ compensation benefits could include:
- Healthcare treatments,
- Wage-loss payments, and
- Vocational rehabilitation.
To help make sure you receive the maximum amount of benefits available to you, you need to report any workplace injury to your employer as soon as possible.
If you fail to report your work injury within 14 days, your employer might have the right to reduce some of your compensation.
If you fail to report your work injury within 180 days, you may be barred from receiving any compensation at all.
Health Care Treatments
Your employer has to pay for health care that is reasonable and necessary to relieve or cure your work-related medical conditions. You generally have to keep the same health care provider throughout your claim.
Sometimes you can change providers without needing approval from the insurance company or the government if you make the request soon enough.
Pay careful attention to the care you receive from the beginning. This attention can help you determine as soon as possible whether you need or want to change your provider.
Wage-Loss Payments
If the physician for your work injury states that you have to stop working or restrict your work at Target, workers’ comp should pay to replace part of your wages.
The amount of your wage-loss benefits is a proportion of your average weekly wage. Properly calculating your average weekly wage can include considering many factors about your work life.
After a work injury, you should review your wages, hours, and benefits from Target and other jobs you held at the time of injury.
You should also review your tax information for any self-employment income. These can all be part of your average weekly wage.
If your wage-loss benefits don’t accurately reflect what you earned, speak to your insurance adjuster.
Sometimes hiring an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to help with these determinations is your best option to maximize your benefits.
Vocational Rehabilitation
If your injury leaves you impaired in a way that prevents your return to work for Target, workers’ compensation law might allow or require you to receive vocational rehabilitation benefits.
You should have a clear understanding of all your work abilities and your Target work requirements and how your work injury and past injuries affect them.
Understanding your abilities, obligations, and restrictions can help you make the most of your rehabilitation benefits.
Making a Workers’ Compensation Claim
After you notify Target about your work injury, their insurance company either accepts or denies your claim.
If the insurance company denies your claim or denies you wage benefits, you have multiple options to fight the denial:
- Speak to the insurance adjuster or claims representative and take notes;
- Speak to an Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialist from the Department of Labor and Industry; or
- Request a hearing by filing an Employee’s Claim Petition form.
You should try these options in ascending order. You should also understand that fighting a denial of workers’ compensation benefits can be complicated.
It’s important to hire an experienced attorney to help you with the process of fighting a benefit denial.
Contact a Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Attorney to Help You Access Benefits
You give your time and your abilities to your work. If a work injury hinders your abilities to make a living and/or function, you should be compensated.
Arechigo & Stokka has decades of the experience you need to successfully fight for the compensation benefits you’re due.
We’ve won hundreds of cases, and we give direct, personal attention to our clients. If you want big results in your case, contact us online, or call us at (651) 372-3734 for a free consultation.
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