St. Louis Workers' Compensation Lawyer

According to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 7,851 claims for injuries under workers’ compensation were filed in June 2021. Expanded over 12 months, that extrapolates to more than 90,000 workers’ compensation claims a year filed in Missouri.

Even though it’s not uncommon to file a claim in Missouri, when a workplace accident happens to you or someone you love, it can feel completely overwhelming. When you’ve been injured or fallen ill due to workplace conditions in the St. Louis area, including Jefferson County and Charles County, contact Jett Legal. A St. Louis workers’ compensation lawyer can assess your situation, determine your options, and help you with your claim, including the filing of any appeals that become necessary.

Workers’ Compensation in Missouri

Businesses in Missouri that meet certain employee thresholds are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance, or to self-insure when qualified. Certain types of employment, however, are excluded, including agriculture, home-based care providers, real estate agents, postal and maritime workers, and volunteers at a tax-exempt organization. Independent contractors lacking employee status are also exempt.

Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, in which neither employer nor employee can be assessed fault for any injury or illness that occurs because of work conditions or accidents. Instead, the workers’ compensation system – usually managed by an insurance provider – will field claims and provide benefits as necessary to cover medical expenses and any wages lost due to time off for treatment or recovery.

Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim

When you suffer an injury or illness at work, your first step is to report it to your supervisor or your employer. You are required to provide written notice detailing the date, time, place of injury, nature of injury, along with your contact information, including name and address.

After notifying your employer, your employer should arrange for you to receive proper medical treatment and evaluations, and also file the necessary reports to the state Workers’ Compensation Division and notify the insurer.

If the injury or illness requires immediate attention, you should tend to that prior to providing written notice. Note that you have 30 days to file your claim, or it may not be honored.

Basis for a Claim

Missouri law states that the accident at work must be the prevailing – or primary – factor in causing your injury and disability. Likewise, if you fall ill, occupational exposure to the disease must be the prevailing factor in the resulting medical condition and disability.

Benefits Available

In addition to medical expense payments, benefits for lost wages are available but depend on how your disability is classified. There are four classifications and resulting payment calculations:

• Temporary Partial Disability: Your disability allows you to continue working but in a lesser capacity. You will be eligible for two-thirds of the difference between the pay for your non-disabled work capacity and your partially disabled work status.
• Temporary Total Disability: Your disability prevents you from working in any capacity. You will be paid two-thirds of your normal weekly wage, not to exceed a maximum amount set by law.
• Permanent Partial Disability: You are eligible to receive two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a legal limit, or to receive a lump sum payment.
• Permanent Total Disability: You can receive lifetime payments of two-thirds of your weekly wage, again limited by a legal ceiling. You may also be offered a lump sum.

If you are receiving lost-wages compensation, the first three days you miss from work will not be paid unless and until you miss 14 days off.

If you are permanently and totally disabled due to one or more “occupational diseases due to toxic exposure,” you qualify for enhanced benefits. These diseases include mesothelioma, asbestosis, berylliosis, coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, bronchiolitis, obliterans, silicosis, silicotuberculosis, manganism, acute myelogenous leukemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome.