Benefits for People Working Two Jobs
Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Assisting People in the Wheaton and Schaumburg Areas
The reality is that many people in Illinois need to work two jobs to make ends meet. If you or someone close to you works two jobs and was injured at one of them, you may be wondering what your next steps might be. At Therman Law Offices, our Wheaton and Schaumburg workers’ compensation attorneys can analyze the facts of your case and help you understand your legal rights and options. While having two jobs can complicate the workers’ compensation issue, we know how to navigate situations involving benefits for people working two jobs and can help you secure the medical benefits, wage replacement, and other assistance that you rightfully deserve.
Pursuing Benefits for People Working Two Jobs
Workers’ compensation is a statutory system that that entitles employees who have suffered an injury or illness at the workplace to certain benefits. This is a no-fault system, meaning that the employee is entitled to benefits regardless of whose fault the workplace accident was. In Illinois, employees who have been injured on the job have the right to fully paid medical care for the injury. Depending on the circumstances of the specific case, the employee may also be eligible for a portion of his or her lost wages, disability benefits, and more.
When people work two jobs, a number of different scenarios may be present. For example, the first job may be full-time, and the second job may be part-time. In other cases, a person may have two or three part-time jobs. Regardless of the specific time allotment at each job, if a person is injured while working at one of their jobs, that person can seek compensation for lost wages from all of their jobs. Using the income from both jobs will result in an increase in the benefits that can be recovered in a workers’ compensation case.
In order to recover benefits as a worker with two jobs, however, an employee must demonstrate that the employer at the job where they suffered the injury was aware of the employee’s second job. The employer must not have objected to the employee having a second job. If these conditions are met, both jobs will likely be used to calculate the employee’s average weekly wage.
The average weekly wage is important because it forms the basis for the benefits that an injured employee receives. Consider the following example. You work two jobs, of which the first job pays you $600 a week, and the second job pays you $400 a week. You suffer a serious injury on the first job, and the doctor tells you that you cannot work for a month. This would inevitably affect the second job because now you cannot work at that job either. In such a scenario, we would gather wage information from both jobs and use the total weekly income ($1,000 from both jobs) to calculate your weekly benefits. In Illinois, a person is entitled to two-thirds of their weekly wages for missed work, which would entitle you to $666.67 per week. These calculations are complex, and having an attorney on your side is critical to making sure that nothing is overlooked.
Typically, workers’ compensation is the sole remedy for employees, meaning that they cannot sue their employer for negligence related to a workplace injury. Of course, there are certain exceptions to this rule. If a third party like a manufacturer or a careless driver caused your injury, you may be able to sue that third party for negligence. We can examine the facts of your case and help you identify all of the potentially liable parties as well as your options regarding each of those parties.
Contact a Knowledgeable Job Injury Lawyer in Schaumburg or Wheaton
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