One of the most common workplace injuries is the “slip and fall” (or “trip and fall”) injury. Slip-and-fall injuries are injuries when someone slid or tripped in a smooth or uneven surface – most likely, this happened to us at our office, school, store or even at our own home.
While slip-and-fall does not necessarily cause serious injuries, if they do, the common body parts injured are the neck, arms, and back. But in some cases, leg and foot injury are also reported from slip-and-fall accidents. Head is rarely injured from a slip-and-fall accident, but when it did, it can be fatal.
Now, if you suffered from a slip-and-fall accident, you have two choices when claiming compensation from the injuries you get: claiming for workers’ comp benefits or filing for slip-and-fall claims.
You may wonder, which is the better method? Keep in mind that, generally, you cannot file for workers’ comp and slip-and-fall claims at the same time (or basically, sue your employer). There are exceptions, but generally, you have to choose either you file for workers’ comp or seek for slip-and-fall claims. For the most part, workers’ comp is better than filing for slip-and-fall claims, and here are the reasons why.
Pros of Workers’ Comp Over Slip-and-Fall Claims
Of course, you can only file for workers’ comp claim if your injury is work-related. Otherwise, this will be out of the option. But even if it happened in a workplace, be sure that your injury is still work-related. For instance, if you happen to slip and fall during lunchtime, that is commonly not considered a work-related injury because you are not on your duty on the time you got injured.
Assuming you are in the right time and right circumstance, a workers’ comp is better than slip-and-fall claims for the following reasons:
Workers’ Comp Is a No-Fault System
One advantage of workers’ comp is that, you don’t have to prove that it’s your employer’s fault on why you got injured; whereas if you filed for slip-and-fall claims (or in general, sue him or her), you must prove that your employer is responsible for your injuries. Otherwise, you will not win the case and you won’t get the compensation you should receive.
But what if it is your fault? Under the no-fault system, it does not really matter who’s at fault – whether it’s you or the other party. However, if you evidently caused your own harm, you will not get your workers’ comp benefits (and you may even face fraud charges for it). Similarly, if your employer intentionally caused you harm, you can sue him/her even if you filed for workers’ comp claims.
You Don’t Need a Lawyer
It is odd that a law firm will suggest an action that does not need any of its services, but this because it is simply true. In general, you don’t need a lawyer to file for workers’ comp claims, whereas in slip-and-fall claims, you’ll need to hire one. Not hiring a lawyer means you can save money.
But you will need a lawyer when:
· You need legal advice
· Your employer/insurance company denies your claim
· You faced other cases that arose from your original case regarding your injury
· You are not confident in claiming your workers’ comp benefits by yourself
You Can Save Time and Effort
Because you don’t need to present a lot of evidence and prove a lot of claims when filing for workers’ comp (consider the no-fault system, for instance), this process will relatively save you time and effort than if you filed for slip-and-fall claims.
To be clear, it will still time, effort, and even money on your part when claiming for workers’ comp, but it’s certainly easier than when you file for slip-and-fall claims.
When to File For Slip-and-Fall Claims
If your case may not qualify for workers’ comp (such as a lunch break injury), claiming for slip-and-fall could be your next option. This is, of course, on the assumption that there is negligence on the part of your employer.
But then, keep in mind that slip-and-fall claims will be more costly than when claiming for workers’ comp, always keep that in mind. But our slip and fall lawyer in Ontario CA are some of the best in their fields, they can surely help you in your case and give you proper legal advice. So, check us out at https://lglawoffices.com/workers-compensation/ontario-california-91764/ If you need well-written information about the law that’s easy to understand for the average person, check out Legal Facts.org. They have the most informative and well-written articles regarding our laws. The primary goal is to simplify law, so even the average person can understand law without the need to deal with its complex jargon.
