Workers’ Compensation is Not Optional in Delaware
Getting injured at work and losing time and income because of that injury can become a tremendous blow to your lifestyle. The workers’ compensation attorneys at Silverman, McDonald & Friedman are here to help you claim the benefits you are entitled to while you recover from your workplace injuries. Please contact us to schedule your consultation with a Newark, Seaford or Wilmington workers’ compensation attorney today.
If you have ever been offered a bump up in salary in exchange for opting out of the workers’ compensation program, or maybe you have received a job offer that was advertised as regular employee, but then the employer said that they were going to classify you as an independent contractor so that they would not have to withhold employment taxes or pay for workers’ compensation? You should know that if that Delaware employer has one or more employees, the law requires them to carry workers’ compensation insurance for all of them. Unless you are a farm worker (because farm workers are exempt from the Delaware workers’ compensation laws) or an independent contractor, your employer is required to cover you under their workers’ compensation program.
Workers’ compensation is a state program which provides partial wage-replacement benefits and medical expenses for workers who have been injured on the job, or who are diagnosed with an occupational illness. Also covered are death benefits for the family of a worker who is killed in a workplace accident, compensation for loss of use, permanent impairment and disfigurement.
Workers in every kind of industry, not just those that seem especially hazardous, can become injured at work. The workers’ compensation system was created so that employees would not have to take on the burden of suing their employer, and proving negligence before they could recover compensation for their injuries. The workers’ compensation system is a no-fault system that allows workers to obtain benefits and get medical care related to their workplace injury.
Sometimes, while applying for benefits, a worker will run into a dispute with their employer’s insurer, or with the Delaware Workers’ Compensation Commission. In such cases, it makes sense for the worker to avail themselves of an experienced, Delaware workers’ compensation attorney who knows the law, and knows how to make sure that their clients can obtain the compensation they deserve when they have been hurt at work.
At Silverman, McDonald & Friedman, we have earned a solid reputation for protecting our clients’ rights and representing them as they pursue the compensation that they deserve when they have been injured at work or diagnosed with an occupational illness. Please call 302-888-2900 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment for a consultation with a trusted workers’ compensation lawyer in Wilmington, Newark or Seaford today. We are on your side.
Attorney Jeffrey S. Friedman joined Silverman, McDonald & Friedman in 2001. He graduated from Widener University School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in Delaware and Pennsylvania, and in several Federal Circuit courts. He areas of concentration include auto accident and workers’ compensation cases. Read more about Attorney Friedman here.