Worker's Compensation

Are you dealing with the confusing and complex world of Evansville, Newburgh or Southern Indiana worker’s compensation without legal assistance? Salmon & Hewins, LLC, an Evansville, Indiana worker’s compensation firm, assists injured workers. Salmon & Hewins, LLC is committed to ensuring that claims for work injuries in Evansville, Newburgh and Southern Indiana are being handled properly and the rights of injured workers are sufficiently protected.

Charles Hewins of Salmon & Hewins, LLC understands that injured workers in Evansville, Newburgh and Southern Indiana are already suffering losses and dealing with pain due to their injuries. They shouldn’t also have to suffer through the worker’s compensation legal process as well. If you sustained an injury that required medical treatment or caused you to miss work, contact us for a free consultation, to make sure all of your rights under worker’s compensation law are properly protected.

Worker’s Compensation benefits may also be available to the family of a loved one who was killed in a work injury. Salmon & Hewins, LLC has the knowledge, experience, commitment and skill to make sure that the employer properly compensates the family of an employee killed on the job according to worker’s compensation law. If you are suffering through the death of a loved one, contact Evansville Workers Compensation Lawyer Charles Hewins of Salmon & Hewins, LLC to discuss the rights available to you.

It cannot be understated how important it is to contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney if you or a loved one sustains a work-related injury or death. Indiana Worker’s Compensation law is written to favor employers rather than employees who sustain work-related injuries. To protect your rights, contact Indiana worker’s compensation attorney Charles Hewins today. At Salmon & Hewins, LLC, the initial consultation is always free, and Mr. Hewins will evaluate your injury and the status of your case to determine whether your rights are being fully protected under Indiana worker’s compensation law.

Salmon & Hewins, LLC is located in Evansville, Indiana and services clients located in towns and cities throughout Southern Indiana, including Newburgh, Boonville, Chandler, Princeton, Fort Branch, Oakland City, Mount Vernon, New Harmony, Rockport and Tell City. If you or a family member has been injured on the job or if your loved one has been killed on the job, contact experienced worker’s compensation attorney Charles Hewins with your questions. At Salmon & Hewins, LLC, the initial consultation is always free. Charles Hewins is an Evansville Workers Compensation Lawyer.

Worker’s Compensation Frequently Asked Questions
What are the basics of Indiana Worker’s Compensation Law?
Under Indiana worker’s compensation law, an injured employee or the loved ones of an employee killed while on the job must look to the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act to determine what rights are available. To see the law, click the Current Links tab above.

When an employee suffers an on the job injury, the employer has three main obligations. First, the employer must provide the injured employee with all reasonable and necessary medical care. Generally, the employer has the right to determine what doctor will provide the needed medical care. However, if an injured employee is refused needed medical care, the employee may be able to choose his or her own doctor, and receive reimbursement for the medical expenses. If you suffer a work related injury and your employer is not providing you the medical care you need, contact experienced worker’s compensation attorney Charles Hewins for a free initial consultation to discuss your rights.

The second main obligation arises if an injured employee suffers an injury that results in missed work. Subject to certain other criteria that worker’s compensation attorney Charles Hewins can explain to you, an employee who misses work due to an on the job injury is entitled to receive Temporary Total Disability (TTD) or Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) benefits that are based on the employee’s pre-injury wages. These benefits are available while the injured employee recovers from his or her injuries. TTD is paid if the employee’s injury is so severe if the employee cannot work at all during the period of recovery from the injury. TPD is paid if the injured employee can still work, but only for reduced hours.

The third main employer obligation arises in certain circumstances when the injured employee’s condition has reached a quiescent state, or, in other words, the medical condition has improved the most it will ever improve. Under Indiana Worker’s Compensation law, this is called Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). If an injured employee reaches MMI, yet he or she has an injury or limitation that is permanent in nature, he or she might be entitled to additional compensation from the employer. This can be in the form of (1) Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) benefits that are based on the degree of permanent impairment as determined by the worker’s compensation doctor, or (2) Permanent Total Disability (PTD) benefits, if the permanent injury is so severe that the injured employee is unable to work ever again. Worker’s Compensation attorney Charles Hewins has the skill and experience to represent injured employees to ensure they receive all the benefits they are entitled to under Indiana Worker’s Compensation law. If you have suffered an on the job injury and believe you are entitled to PPI or PTD benefits, contact Charles Hewins for a free consultation today.

How am I compensated if I miss work due to a work-related injury?
If your on-the-job injury requires you to miss work, you may be entitled to Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits. These benefits are based on your Average Weekly Wage (AWW), which is determined by looking at your wage history for the 52 weeks prior to your injury. The employer is then required to pay you two-thirds (2/3) of your average weekly wage until you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (see above). For instance, if an employee has an average weekly wage of $100.00, then the employer would have to pay approximately $66.00 in TTD benefits.

If you suffer a work-related injury and think you are entitled to benefits, call your Evansville, Newburgh and Southern Indiana Work Comp Attorney, Charles Hewins, for a free consultation.

Why doesn’t the employer have to pay me my full wage if I must miss work?
The Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act mandates that the employer must only pay two-thirds (2/3) of an injured employee’s average weekly wage. Although this may seem unfair, keep in mind that under current law, employees are not required to report TTD benefits as taxable income. Consult your tax professional for further advice.

What if I am forced to work reduced hours due to a work-related injury?
If you are still able to work after an injury, but are required to work reduced hours, you should be entitled to benefits called Temporary Partial Disability (TPD). TPD benefits are paid as two-thirds (2/3) of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and the reduced wage you are able to earn while recovering from your injury. For instance, if an employee has an average weekly wage of $100.00, but a work-related injury forces the employee to only earn $50.00 in wages, the employee should receive two-thirds of $50.00, or approximately $33.00, in TPD benefits.

Charles Hewins of Salmon & Hewins, LLC understands how these benefits work, and he knows that sometimes employers fail to pay the benefits an injured worker deserves. If you suffer a work injury, call Worker’s Compensation Attorney Charles Hewins for a free consultation. Charles Hewins is an Evansville, Newburgh and Southern Indiana Worker’s Compensation Attorney.

What if I sustain multiple injuries?
If you suffer injuries to multiple parts of your body in one incident, it is important to always tell your doctor about all conditions, even if one injury does not seem to be as serious as another. If you fail to keep a record of less serious injuries while the “big” injury is being treated first, your employer’s worker’s compensation insurance company may later deny that your other conditions are work related. So, if you sustain multiple work related injuries, be sure to tell your doctors about all parts of your body that hurt during each visit. Contact Evansville Workers Compensation Attorney Charles Hewins if you think you have suffered a work injury.

My employer says I am an independent contractor. Am I covered under the Act?
Under the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act, only “employees” are covered. A typical independent contractor does not fit the Act’s definition of an employee. But just because your employer says you are an independent contractor does not make it so. Indiana courts apply a ten factor test to determine whether someone really is an independent contractor. If your employer exerts a great deal of control over the details of the work you do, if your work is supervised, or if your employer provides the instrumentalities, tools, and the place of work, you may be entitled to the benefits of Indiana’s Worker’s Compensation Act even though your employer tries to call you an independent contractor. If you are injured on the job and you aren’t sure if you are covered under worker’s compensation, call Evansville attorney Charles Hewins for a free consultation.

What does MMI mean?
If you’ve been injured at work, the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act generally requires an employer to provide medical care only until you reach MMI, which stands for Maximum Medical Improvement. This means that in the opinion of the worker’s compensation doctor, no addition medical care, therapy or surgery will improve the injury any further. This does not necessarily mean that you are pain free, and in fact, in the experience of Indiana work comp attorney Charles Hewins, many clients do not feel pain free.

If your doctor tells you that you have reached MMI, you need to understand what this means, because the law may allow you to request a second opinion, or an Independent Medical Examination, that the employer will have to pay for. Worker’s Comp insurance companies will probably not volunteer this information to you, which is why you should contact worker’s compensation lawyer Charles Hewins today if you’ve been injured on the job. The initial consultation is always free.