• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

North Carolina Personal Injury & Workers Compensation Attorneys

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • linkedin

Call Us 919-240-4054

Main navigation

  • Camp Lejeune
  • Workers’ Comp
    • Durham, NC
      • Burns and Explosions
      • Durham back injury lawyers
      • Brain Injury
      • Chemical Exposure
      • Construction Accidents
      • Healthcare Workers and COVID-19
      • Occupational Disease
      • Union Members
      • Workplace Violence
  • Personal Injury
    • Durham, NC
      • Burn Injury
      • College Campus Injuries
      • Car Accidents
      • Catastrophic Injuries
      • Premises Liability
      • Product Liability
      • Trucking Accidents
      • Traumatic Brain Injury
    • Charlotte, NC
      • Trucking Accidents
      • Brain Injury Lawyer
      • Burn Injury Lawyer
      • Premises Liability Lawyer
      • Product Liability Lawyer
      • Car Accident Lawyer
      • Catastrophic Injury Lawyer
  • Wrongful Death
    • Durham, NC
    • Charlotte, NC
  • Bicycle Crash
    • Charlotte, NC
  • Our Lawyers
    • Ann E. Groninger
    • Valerie Johnson
    • Helen S. Baddour
    • Drew Culler
    • Jennifer Segnere
    • Speaking Engagements
  • Resources
    • Law Blog
    • Our Community
  • Contact Us
  • Español

September 13, 2017 By nicole

3 Things You Can Do to Survive The Wait During Your Workers’ Comp Case

3 Things You Can Do to Survive The Wait During Your Workers' Comp Case

You have been injured at work. You have filed a claim with the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Either your case is accepted and you receive benefits, or it is denied and you don’t. Some big issue – like the denial of medical treatment, or the insurance company trying to cut off your benefits — may have caused you to file for a hearing. But in a North Carolina workers’ compensation case, hardly anything happens quickly. What’s the best thing to do when you just have to wait until your case is done?

1. Look for work
When you are injured in North Carolina, and you cannot return to your job, you have to look for work if you can work. Sometimes workers don’t understand this. After all, they might have the right to return to work in their own job or a like job when they get better. Federal law requires employers to put employees back to work if they have more than 50 employees if you return during 12 weeks under the FMLA.

But NC worker’s comp laws require you to look for work whenever you can work and you claim benefits.  Unless you can prove that a job search isn’t going to work, you must look for work whether or not you are getting benefits.
 

2.  Start thinking about school
You didn’t start working so hard because you wanted to go to school.  But you are realizing that you won’t be able to work in your old job or occupation anymore.  You want to be the best you can be, so you realize that you might need to go to school to retrain.

 
It might be an exciting thing for you.  Maybe you have always wanted to work in a medical office rather than in a plant. Or you think that you could benefit from having a degree since you have two years of college credits.
 
North Carolina law provides that if you haven’t returned to work, or if you have but aren’t making 75% of what you made before you were hurt, then you can ask to return to school for additional study.  You could go to a community college or a state university at the insurance company’s expense.
 
3. Help your case

Your lawyer needs your full participation in your case.  This means you should be active in:

  • gathering documents, like emails or out of work notes
  • identifying witnesses, and getting their contact information
  • keeping a log of places you have looked for work
  • asking and answering questions.
North Carolina workers’ compensation laws are complicated.  Your lawyer needs to communicate with you. You should expect the process to be explained to you.  But when you don’t understand the explanation, you have to ask questions. You need to communicate with her too.
 
Valerie Johnson can answer your questions about workers’ compensation.  She has been board certified as a specialist since 2000.  Her book, North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law:  A Practical Guide to Success at Every Stage of a Claim has been cited by the North Carolina Supreme Court as an authoritative guide. Call her at 919-240-4054 for help in your claim.

Filed Under: Work Injury, Workers' Compensation Tagged With: injured workers, North Carolina Workers' Compensation, workers compensation, workers' comp

Primary Sidebar

Primary Sidebar

Occupation

  • Bus Drivers
  • Construction Workers
  • First Responders
  • Police Officers
  • Truck Drivers
  • State Employees
  • Union Members

Injury

  • Asbestos Exposure
  • Durham back injury lawyers
  • Brain Injury
  • Burns and explosions
  • Chemical Exposure
  • COVID-19 and Healthcare Workers
  • Occupational Diseases
  • Workplace Violence

Free Legal Resources

  • Workers’ Compensation 101
  • 8 Questions to Answer Before You Are Ever in a Wreck
  • Essentials for Workers’ Comp Success
  • Help for Families of North Carolina Burn Victims

Locations

Durham Office

300 Blackwell St S#101, Durham, NC 27701

Phone: (919) 240-4054

Fax: (888) 412-0421

Charlotte Office

1018 East Blvd., Ste 6 Charlotte, NC 28203

Phone: (704) 200-2009

Fax : (888) 412-0421

Read Our Google Reviews

Get more stuff

Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox.

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.

We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously.

Copyright Johnson & Groninger PLLC Law Firm SEO by EverSpark Interactive