Notify your employer immediately and request the completion of an incident report. Request medical treatment.
You must see your employer’s doctor. If your employer does not send you to doctor within five days of notice of your injury or if they deny your injury, you can treat with your own doctor.
You are required to treat with your employer’s doctor. However, you are entitled to change doctors. When exercising your change, you are provided a list by the insurance company of three doctors to select from.
Your employer has the right to choose your treating physician. You do have a right to make one change in treating physician subject to certain restrictions. Also, if you are a member of a Certified Work Medial Plan, we must first follow their guidelines for treatment.
You must notify your employer of an injury within 30 days. In most instances you have one year from the date of injury to file a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission. Filing a claim with your employer’s insurance company is not the same as filing a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission and does not stop the clock from running against you to file a claim. Also, you have six months after your last authorized medical treatment to file a request for additional Workers’ Compensation benefits. Waiting more than six months after you last saw the work injury doctor could result in you receiving no further benefits.
No. Filing your claim with your employer’s insurance company is not the same as filing an official claim with the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission. Delay in filing your claim could result in the denial of compensation and benefits.
You have six months following your last authorized medical treatment to request for additional benefits. If you have not received treatment for more than 6 months a request for additional benefits will be denied.
You will see a doctor for whatever time it is necessary for you to recover from your injury. Recovery times depend upon the nature of the injury.
The number of visits will depend on the nature of your injury and the prescribed treatment. Following the completion of your treatment, you will undergo an examination with a physician of your selection to perform an impairment rating. The insurance company will also have you undergo an examination by a physician of their selection for an impairment rating.
It is normal to undergo certain testing procedures, such as x-rays, MRI’s and EMG’s. You cannot be forced to undergo a procedure. However, failure to undergo a recommended diagnostic test, could be considered failure to follow prescribed medical treatment, and could lead to the denial of your claim and termination of benefits.
Your employer has the right to choose your treating physician. You do have a right to make one change in treating physician subject to certain restrictions. Also, if you are a member of a Certified Work Medial Plan, we must first follow their guidelines for treatment.
You must notify your employer of an injury within 30 days. In most instances you have one year from the date of injury to file a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission. Filing a claim with your employer’s insurance company is not the same as filing a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Commission and does not stop the clock from running against you to file a claim. Also, you have six months after your last authorized medical treatment to file a request for additional Workers’ Compensation benefits. Waiting more than six months after you last saw the work injury doctor could result in you receiving no further benefits.
No. Filing your claim with your employer’s insurance company is not the same as filing an official claim with the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission. Delay in filing your claim could result in the denial of compensation and benefits.
You have six months following your last authorized medical treatment to request for additional benefits. If you have not received treatment for more than 6 months a request for additional benefits will be denied.
You have six months following your last authorized medical treatment to request for additional benefits. If you have not received treatment for more than 6 months a request for additional benefits will be denied.
Yes. There is no prohibition against working, while your work injury is pending.
If you are receiving Workers’ Compensation total temporary disability, you should not be working. Individuals could be charged with Workers’ Compensation fraud, a felony, if it is determined they were working and receiving wages while at same time drawing Workers’ Compensation total temporary disability. An individual can work under light duty restrictions and receive Workers’ Compensation temporary partial disability.
Yes. You can change employers during your claim. Your entitlement to medical treatment and other benefits under Worker’s Compensation do not stop after changing employers.
No. You are not required to settle or close your work injury claim before returning to work.
Yes. Many doctors will release an injured worker to return to work even though treatment continues. This work release gives the worker and the doctor an opportunity to determine whether the worker is capable of performing work at their pre-injury capability.
No. An employer cannot force you to return to work. However, there are consequences if you do not accept light duty. If you are receiving temporary compensation, it will terminate if you do not accept a light duty offer. Additionally, your employer could consider your failure to accept light duty as constructive resignation, and your employment could be terminated. However, even if you are terminated, you remain entitled to Workers’ Compensation medical treatment and compensation for your injury.
No. Your employer cannot be forced to offer you light duty work while you are under medical treatment with restrictions. If your employer declines to offer light duty or to accommodate your restrictions, you could be entitled to receive Workers’ Compensation temporary compensation.
You may be entitled to receive temporary partial disability if you are working fewer hours and/or in a position with a lower hourly pay.
If you are receiving temporary total disability at the time of the light duty offer, that compensation will terminate. Additionally, your employer may consider refusal to return the light duty work as your constructive resignation leading to your termination from employment. You are entitled to medical treatment and other compensation continues even if your employment is terminated.
Yes. If you decline an offer of light duty, your Worker’s Compensation temporary total disability checks will terminate. However, you have the right to object to the termination and request a hearing in front of a Workers’ Compensation judge to have your checks restarted. This process, however, still allows the insurance company to stop the checks, and they will only be restarted following a hearing with the judge.
No. Unfortunately, if you have been given permanent restrictions by your work injury doctor, and those restrictions do not permit you to return to the position you held with your employer at the time of your injury, your employer is not required to find, or to create a new position for you. Under those circumstances, you could be entitled to receive vocational retraining.
If you are drawing TTD or PPD, your checks are likely to be late. These can be delayed in the mail or may likely be delayed by the insurance office. Please wait three (3) business days before contacting this office with regard to a late check in order to give it time to get to our office or you. After this three (3) day period, contact this office and we will check into it.
A delayed check may also be an attempt by the insurance company to get you to settle your case. By causing financial hardship, they sometimes may entice you to settle your case for less than it is worth. This is commonly called “starving out” the Claimant.
Reasonable and necessary medical treatment must be paid by your employer. This includes:
Make copies of all bills which are not paid by your employer or Workers’ Compensation insurance. Mail these bills to this office once per month. When you present yourself to health care providers for evaluation or treatment, please inform them that you are being treated for a Workers’ Compensation injury. At no time should you enter into any contractual obligation with a health care provider or loan agency to pay Workers’ Compensation related expenses. If you do receive calls from a collection agency refer them to our office.
TTD stands for Total Temporary Disability. An employee is entitled to weekly payments after three (3) days of disability have passed and the employee has not returned to work. These payments are equal to 70% of your average weekly wage up to a maximum payment, which changes yearly. These payments are to continue subject to statutory exceptions for your period of temporary total disability and will stop upon your return to work, your release by your treating physician, when you are given a PPD rating, or when the statutory maximum benefit has been reached. You should let your attorney know as soon as you are released by your treating physician so that a permanent partial disability evaluation can be scheduled.
PPD stands for Permanent Partial Disability. Permanent partial disability is less than permanent total disability and is similar to permanent impairment. PPD is awarded when your injury is not completely disabling but effects your ability to do normal daily activities such as lifting, bending, standing, walking or other physical activities.
PTD stands for Permanent Total Disability. Disability due to work related injury or disease to earn any wages in employment for which the employee is or becomes physically suited and reasonable fitted by education, training, or experience. Loss of both hands, both feet, both legs, both eyes, or any two (2) thereof is an automatically permanent total disability.
Any anatomical or functional abnormality or loss after reasonable medical treatment has been achieved which the physician considers to be capable of evaluation at the time the rating is made.
This office cannot tell you how much your award will be. Each award is based on a variety of factors, such as:
When an order is received from this court, it may be paid in two (2) ways: lump sum or weekly payments. The manner of payment is determined by the Judge’s Order. Generally, a portion of the award will be accrued and this portion will be ordered paid in a lump sum. The balance of the award will be paid in weekly checks. The lump sum part of the award will be paid by bank check. It will take the check five (5) banking days to clear the bank.
This means causes and conditions characteristic of or peculiar to the particular trade, occupation, process, or employment of the ill worker. Examples would include exposure to a chemical in the workplace that causes injury to the internal organs of the body.
If you have sustained two (2) or more injuries, then you may be entitled to additional benefits from the Multiple Injury Trust Fund. This fund is set up to compensate you for the additional disability sustained when your two (2) injuries are combined and as a result of that combination you are Permanently Totally Disabled. Any injury of a permanent nature may entitle you to these benefits, whether it is work related or not. Examples are scars, obvious injuries, previous Workers’ Compensation awards, birth defects, hearing loss or loss of vision.
Hearings are held before an Administrative Law Judge of the Workers’ Compensation Commission. A hearing could be necessary to obtain medical treatment, Temporary Total Disability checks, travel expenses, prosthetic devices, payment of medical bills, retraining or to award permanent partial disability. It can take from three (3) to nine (9) months to get a hearing once a request is made by either party. This office has no control over hearing dates. The hearings are set by the court’s docket clerk and the court’s computer system. The scheduling of hearings is dictated by the volume of cases filed and the particular judge assigned.
Cases may be settled by a Joint Petition. A Joint Petition is a settlement by general release. It is full, final, and complete. The employer has no further obligation to the employee for medical care, treatment, TTD, PPD or rehabilitation. Respondent insurance companies like to settle this way because they do not have to pay if your injury gets worse.
This office will be happy to schedule an appointment for you if you will call ahead of time. Please do not come in expecting to see your attorney without an appointment. Your attorney may not be in the office due to court appearance and outside appointments such as depositions.
Mail all correspondence to the following address:
Armstrong Law Firm
C/O: Craig Armstrong or Bryan Lower (whoever your attorney is)
2727 E 21st Street, Suite 505
Tulsa, OK 74114
We use legal assistants to expedite the handling of your case. Legal assistants can answer questions, but may not give legal advice. Feel free to ask for a legal assistant on questions not answered here. Always ask for a legal assistant if your attorney is unavailable.
Prepare a list of witnesses to your job related injury. Include people who have assisted you to the doctor, hospital, or ambulance. Mail this to your attorney also. Explain how each witness can help or hurt your case.
Attorney fees are set by the Court on Workers’ Compensation claims and are normally twenty percent (20%) of your recovery for permanent partial disability and ten percent (10%) for temporary total disability. No fee is awarded if recovery is denied. Please read the contract that is enclosed in your initial packet or that your attorney gave you. This contract will control all disputes that arise. If you have questions, please feel free to ask your attorney directly.
If you have questions about any other type of fees, please speak with your attorney directly.
No lawyer in this office represents insurance companies. This office is not paid by the hour. If you do not get a fair award, we do not get a fair fee. Thus, we are very concerned about how much you receive in your case.
