The thought of being injured at work and not being able to work as a result of that is not a pleasant one. The consequences of having no income, or a greatly reduced income, are significant: how will you pay the rent or mortgage, the bills, pay the ever increasing petrol prices?
While worker’s compensation should provide a safety net for work related injuries or diseases, you may not always be aware of your full legal rights, and talking to a lawyer might just save you time and money.
At Halfpennys Lawyers, we care.
And we know that if you’re facing the possibility of making ends meet on a possible reduced income, that you might not want to spend the money on consulting with lawyers. Especially when you can probably complete a worker’s compensation claim without our assistance.
But will you get all that you are entitled to? Who will tell you if you’ve neglected to claim for something?
Halfpennys Lawyers will tell you.
And when we meet with you the first time, we won’t charge you for our time. Because we care.
What happens if you’re injured at work?
In the Northern Territory, a worker is entitled to worker’s compensation for a personal injury, the aggravation of an injury, a disease or the aggravation of a disease that occurs during his or her employment with an employer.
If you are travelling to or from work and are injured, you will also be covered by worker’s compensation, except where the accident involved a motor vehicle; the Motor Vehicle Accidents Compensation Act covers motor vehicle accidents.
Injuries that are occur at work will most likely entitle you to claim worker’s compensation (there are some exceptions though) as well as injuries that occur as a gradual process due to your work. As far as aggravated diseases go, you must be able to show that your employment circumstances contributed to the aggravation of the disease.
Entitlements
When work related injuries or diseases occur, your employer has to cover the reasonable cost of your travel to and from doctors, your medical expenses and the cost of your medicine.
Medical expenses can include rehabilitation treatment, any surgical costs that you might incur as well as the cost of your hospital stay.
If your injury is of such a nature that you cannot obtain suitable employment after your recovery, you will also be entitled to upgrading of your job skills or training for a different career.
Worker’s compensation entitles an injured worker to receive their normal weekly earnings for the first 26 weeks of being off work. If you are working part time or receiving any other income, this amount will be deducted from your worker’s compensation payment.
After the initial 26 weeks, your payment will be reduced to 75% of what you would normally have received. Once again, any income that you earn will be deducted from these payments. There are also minimum and maximum provisions that may apply.
My worker’s compensation claim has been rejected – what now?
You will always be advised in writing if your claim is rejected, or your benefits are reduced or cancelled. A Rights of Appeal form will accompany the letter that you will receive advising you that your claim has been rejected or that your benefits have been reduced or cancelled. If this does occur, you will have 90 days in which to apply that your matter be referred for mediation. If mediation is unsuccessful, you then have a further 28 days after mediation to apply to the Work Health Court.
My injury was due to my employer’s negligence – can I sue the employer?
No. In the Northern Territory, the worker’s compensation scheme is a no fault scheme and one cannot sue an employer or colleague for negligence.
Why Halfpennys Lawyers?
We cannot stress enough the possible benefit of getting professional help if you’ve been injured; worker’s compensation is far more complicated than can be explained on a webpage or in a brochure.
With our free initial consultation and our dedicated professionals, shouldn’t we ask “Why not Halfpennys Lawyers?”
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