Absolutely. Reporting a work injury or occupational disease is essential for protecting your rights, as well as the health of everyone in your workplace. If you are injured, you should report your injury to a supervisor in writing.

You need to ask your employer for an “801 Form.” If you work for a larger company, the Human Resources officer should have one. Fill out the 801 Form and give it back to your employer. You should request a copy for your records. When you see your medical provider, tell them your injuries are work-related and ask to fill out an “827 Form.” Your doctor’s office should have these forms readily available and know how to get them to the proper person to begin the claims process.

Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. This means that you could have been injured due to your own negligence and your injury will still be covered. Except for a few extreme circumstances (e.g., you intentionally harm yourself or are intoxicated at work), your work injury is covered by Oregon’s workers’ compensation system.

It is illegal for an employer to fire you or retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim. The Wellstone Law Group does not practice employment law, but should this become an issue, we work with several employment law attorneys whose names and numbers we would be happy to provide.

Maybe. If your claim has been accepted and you feel that all benefits are being properly paid, you likely do not need an attorney. On the other hand, if you feel your employer’s workers’ compensation insurer is doing something improper, you should contact the Wellstone Law Group immediately. Here is a list of some of the insurance activities that should lead you to contact the Wellstone Law Group:

• Insurer refuses to accept compensability of an injury/disease caused by work;

• Insurer pays you too little in time loss benefits;

• Insurer is not paying you time loss benefits in a timely manner;

• Insurer is not accepting the entire injury (e.g., you herniate disc and insurer only accepts a low back sprain);

• Insurer refuses to pay work injury-related medical bills;

• Insurer should be closing your claim, but is not;

• You have permanent impairment, but your claim is closed without receiving a permanent impairment award or does provide a permanent impairment award, but it is too small;

• You believe you are entitled to vocational retraining, but none has been provided;

• Insurer is requesting you give a recorded statement; or

• You wish to settle your case.

This question has many potential answers, but too often the answer is that insurance companies think they can save money by denying legitimate claims because more often than not, the worker will not appeal the wrongfully denied claim. By appealing denials, you not only increase the chances of recovering the benefits to which you are entitled under the law, but you also decrease the likelihood of the insurer unreasonably denying valid claims made by other injured workers.

Act fast. You have just 60 days to appeal a denial of a claim.

Yes, you can appeal a claim denial on your own, but as any workers’ compensation judge will advise you, representing yourself in a workers’ compensation dispute is a bad idea. Workers’ compensation law is one of the most complicated areas of law. It is full of traps and pitfalls that a layperson simply has no way of knowing about. To ensure your interests are protected, we highly advise that you not represent yourself. With that said, it is your right to do so.

Oregon law strictly regulates the payment of workers’ compensation attorneys. We only receive money if we obtain money or benefits for you. The two most common ways that the law firm gets paid is if we successfully litigate your case at hearing or we settle your case. If we win your case, the insurance company is required to pay us an attorney fee above and beyond whatever benefits you are due (i.e., you keep 100% of whatever you win at hearing). If we settle your case, our firm will receive 25% of the first $17,500 of the settlement, and 10% of any settlement proceeds over $17,500. This payment structure is set out by Oregon’s Administrative Code. If we are unable to settle your case or litigate your case and lose, you owe us nothing for our time.

Give us a call at (503) 446-2508. Consultations are free.