Please Call One of Our board-certified Workers' compensation Specialists For a Free Consultation (833) 444-4257
Please Call One of Our board-certified Workers' compensation Specialists For a Free Consultation (833) 444-4257
In this article, you will discover:
Remote work does not relieve employers in North Carolina of dealing with workers’ compensation claims. As a remote worker, you’re entitled to workers’ compensation.
North Carolina Workers Compact covers all employees when the employer employs three or more people. This does not include independent contractors but regular employees on a payroll. As a remote worker, you can file a workers’ compensation claim if you fall at home or are injured while working or furthering your employer’s business.
You have the same obligation as any injured worker: You must report the injury to your employer. You may have to notify them in writing, and you may have to contact their workers’ compensation carrier.
The same types of injuries you’re eligible for at work are relevant to you at home. To have a compensable claim in North Carolina, you must have an “injury by accident.” If you slip or fall at home while working, you are eligible for a workers’ compensation claim. For back-specific claims, all you need is a specific traumatic incident. Those claims are also covered whether you’re at home or at work.
The law doesn’t distinguish whether you are at home or are working in an employer-owned or leased space. What matters is that your at-home injury is the result of an accident, as defined by the North Carolina Workers Compact.
Attorney Justin Wraight is a seasoned lawyer based in North Carolina who has helped countless clients like you navigate the intricacies of Social Security Disability law. With more than 20 years of experience, he is prepared to assist you in successfully making and winning your Social Security Disability claim for a work-related at-home injury.
Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Cardinal Law Partners today to schedule an initial consultation.
The whole gist of at-home injuries is that if you’ve had an at-home injury, there are no co-workers around to witness it. There’s no easy investigation where the employer can walk into your office and look at where you were hurt and what happened.
Careful documentation amounts to the best claim, and you document an injury by contacting your supervisor.
If your company has a handbook telling you what to do in the event of a workers’ compensation claim, do these things on time. If you fall and injure your knee at home, you want to let your supervisor know:
You want to communicate that to them as quickly as possible. Waiting a few days to see if your injury gets better is understandable, but it may not be the best strategy for documenting your workers’ compensation case.
You want to follow the same procedures for a home injury being denied as if you were on the job site. You want to present and follow your claim. If you can’t work it out with your employer and their insurance company as to whether your claim is compensable, you can always request a hearing before the Industrial Commission.
The Industrial Commission will decide whether or not you have a compensable claim. You can do that by filing a Form 33 in North Carolina. Just because you’ve been hurt at home doesn’t mean you have to take your employer’s answer as the final decision; allow your case to be heard by the Industrial Commission.
You can ask for the same compensation as you would if you were at your workplace. People who receive benefits for a compensable North Carolina Workers’ Compensation claim receive either medical compensation and/or indemnity, which is the disability compensation for not being able to work.
Being hurt at home still entitles you to go to the doctor and receive treatment recommendations, physical therapy, injections, medications or whatever else you need. You’re still entitled to that, regardless of whether you were at home or at work offsite.
The more interesting benefit you’re entitled to, just as if you were at the work site, is” time is from work.” That’s a more difficult benefit to push. Most people are entitled to benefits because they cannot physically get to work, and once they are there, they can’t physically do the job.
If you’re working from home, you can get to work because you’re there each day. You’re waking up there. Also, unless your job is unexpectedly physical for an at-home job, there won’t be many reasons why you can’t do that job, especially if it’s a telephone or computer-type job.
Getting ”time off from work” for an at-home workers’ compensation injury is challenging. The doctors might not understand why they would remove you from work altogether. However, the analysis of what you’re entitled to is similar, if not the same, as if you were here at the employer’s job site.
Attorney Justin Wraight is a seasoned lawyer based in North Carolina who has helped countless clients like you navigate the intricacies of Social Security Disability law. With more than 20 years of experience, he is prepared to assist you in successfully making and winning your Social Security Disability claim for a work-related at-home injury.
Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Cardinal Law Partners today to schedule an initial consultation.
Anytime there’s an at-home injury claim, you must have your documentation in order. Documenting an injury can involve pictures, emails or text messages. It might include ensuring clearing with a doctor that even though you were at home, you were still working.
Suppose the medical records state, “Miss Smith came into the emergency room. She tripped and fell at home, has a torn meniscus and needs some help from us.” There’s nothing untrue or improper in that statement except that she was at home. However, she was also working. An attorney will ensure that the doctors and the documentation reflect that it was an at-home injury, but it was also a work injury.
You can count on the insurance company saying, “Claim denied. The claimant admits to being at home.” Of course, she was at home because that’s where she not only lives but also works, and she was doing work activities. You want the time the doctor was called, if an ambulance was called and when the ambulance came as part of the record.
If you’re working at 11 p.m., you want that documented as your regular work routine. Otherwise, working at that time raises red flags about whether you were hurt during work hours or some other time.
People who work from home don’t have as many workers’ compensation claims as people who have to navigate travel, parking lots, hallways, break rooms, storage facilities, storage rooms, warehouses, and machinery. They are just not exposed to the same types of hazards.
There are fewer at-home workers’ compensation claims than you might see if you are at an office. Many people who work from home have no idea that workers’ compensation still covers them. It is likely that workers’ claims aren’t being filed or pursued, even though they’re legitimate, simply because the worker just doesn’t know their rights.
For more information on workers’ compensation for remote employees in NC, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (833) 444-4257 today.
Attorney Justin Wraight is a seasoned lawyer based in North Carolina who has helped countless clients like you navigate the intricacies of Social Security Disability law. With more than 20 years of experience, he is prepared to assist you in successfully making and winning your Social Security Disability claim for a work-related at-home injury.
Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Cardinal Law Partners today to schedule an initial consultation.
We are passionate about providing excellent representation for our clients. Therefore, If you have suffered personal injury, it is important to understand benefits you may be entitled to receive. All of our attorneys are North Carolina Board Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialists and will help you understand your rights.
