Workers' Compensation for Occupational Illnesses

From Legionnaire’s disease to asbestosis to mesothelioma, there are many diseases that employees may develop while on the job. If a physician has diagnosed you with a medical condition that you believe had an onset in the workplace, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation for occupational illnesses like these. Keep reading, where we’ll discuss this and other concerns.

Showing Proof for a Work-Related Disease

If you work in a traditional employment role, your employer likely carries workers’ compensation coverage. You might have heard that workers’ comp is a no-fault insurance, meaning your employer must extend benefits (such as compensated medical care) regardless of who is fault for injuries and illnesses. The truth is there are exceptions to the rules, though.

Securing workers’ compensation for occupational illnesses is possible. However, if an insurer pushes back on your claim, it’s your responsibility to show a causal link between your employment and the onset of your disease. Steps involved in doing that include:

• Establishing that a doctor has indeed assigned you a specific diagnosis
• Showing how a specific work task or exposure to specific hazardous substances caused your disease
• Substantiating how your overuse, exposure, etc., solely or mostly occurred while on a job site or in your workplace
• Demonstrating that your ability to work has been significantly impacted, or that you’ve been entirely unable to return to work

Filing Deadlines for Occupational Disease Cases

Much like an injury that occurs on the job, it’s your responsibility to notify your employer that you’re hurt or unwell. One major difficulty associated with occupational diseases is that it’s challenging to track down when the onset of the illness occurred, as many of them can take a while to set in.

Filing deadlines can be strict, though. In order to successfully secure benefits, it’s important to work with a qualified professional who can help you pinpoint the onset of your condition.

Just to give you an example of how there can be some variance in filing deadlines, the same resources cited above outline the following:

• Ohio allows individuals to file up to six months after a doctor assigns them a diagnosis or two years after they became disabled by their disease.
• In New York, workers have two years to file after they find out (or should have found out) about their condition or the date their disability occurred.
• Missouri gives claimants two years to file a workers’ comp claim “after the occupational disease becomes reasonably discoverable and it is apparent that an injury has been sustained related to the work exposure.” The state agency does point out that the filing timeline increases by 1 to 3 years when an employer fails to file a First Report of Injury with it, though.

Understanding state or federal workers’ compensation laws, how each defines an occupational illness, and the filing deadlines that apply in these scenarios can be challenging. Following up with your state’s board or an attorney can help you understand your responsibilities and right to workers’ compensation for occupational illnesses.