Major Workers’ Compensation Defenses

Slade Neighbors is a skilled attorney with more than two decades of experience. The California resident leads Slade Neighbors, A Professional Law Corporation, a law firm in Los Angeles specializing in workers’ compensation law defense.

Workers’ compensation obliges employers to compensate their employees for any injuries they sustain while doing their jobs. To obtain entitled compensation, an employee must file a claim after suffering a work-related injury and wait for the employer and their insurer to investigate it before benefits are paid out. However, not all injuries are covered. An employer or insurer may reject an employee’s claim for several reasons.

One of these reasons is a failure on the employee’s part to give timely notice of their injuries. State workers’ compensation laws necessitate that injured workers notify their employers in a timely manner, typically within 30 to 90 days from the time of the injury. If the employee or employee’s representative fails to do this with a verbal or written notice before the deadline, the insurance company may have justification to deny their claims.

Time limits also apply to workers’ compensation benefits regarding statutes of limitations. State laws require that workers must file a compensation claim within a specific time frame, usually from one to three years. If the injured worker files a lawsuit later, an employer can declare them ineligible for compensation benefits.

To qualify for compensation benefits, the injured workers must have sustained their injuries from tasks that are directly tied to their jobs. Workers’ compensation benefits will not cover harm occurring lunch breaks or the daily commute to the workplace.

AB5 Brings More California Workers Into Workers’ Compensation Fold

For almost 25 years Slade Neighbors has represented clients in workers’ compensation cases before California courts. A certified expert on Medicare Set Aside issues and the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, Slade Neighbors keeps abreast of changes in California law that have ramifications on workers’ compensation. One of these is the passage and coming into effect of Assembly Bill 5 (AB5).

AB5 was passed in September 2019 and came into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The law put in place new rules for determining whether workers were employees or independent contractors. Before, employers classified many workers as independent contractors, precluding them from enjoying benefits available to employees such as workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance.

The new rules presume a worker to be an employee unless the employer can show that the worker: is free from the hiring company’s control, performs work outside the course of business of the hiring company, and is established independently in that trade or business. AB5 applies to all California workers and on July 1, 2020, it became effective for purposes of workers’ compensation.

Filing a Workers Compensation Claim in California

For more than 24 years, Slade Neighbors has been certified by the State Bar of California as a Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law. In this capacity, Slade Neighbors represents employers, insurers, and self-insured individuals in all manners of cases before the all District Offices of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.

All California employers are required to purchase workers compensation insurance, regardless of the number of employees. Most commonly, workers compensation injuries result from car and truck accidents, falls, and lifting or moving objects. When a worker is injured on the job, they are required to first inform their employer. After obtaining the proper medical treatment, the injured party should fill out the Division of Workers’ Compensation Form 1, which the employer will file with the insurance company.

Once the claim is authorized, insurance should cover all injury-related medical expenses, as well as temporary disability benefits if the injury prevents the individual from working. Individuals with injuries that permanently impair their capacity to work are eligible for permanent disability benefits.