It’s the word no employee wants to hear: layoffs. Finding out that your job is going away, often with little or no notice, can feel like a gut punch. This is no doubt what Iowa workers at John Deere were feeling after the company recently announced that it was laying off workers at its Waterloo plant and moving jobs away from its Des Moines and Ottumwa locations.
If you were one of the workers who lost their job, or you’ve been affected by layoffs at another company, there’s something about the law you might not realize. In Iowa, it’s possible to get workers’ compensation benefits even after you lose your job.
Workers’ Compensation After the Job Is Over
You probably already knew that if you get injured or sickened in the course of your work duties, your employer must provide workers’ compensation to pay your medical bills and other expenses until you’re well enough to go back to work. But actually, that right can extend past your time working there. If you get laid off or terminated, you might still be entitled to workers’ comp benefits – whether you filed your claim before losing or job or not.
In other words, if you filed for workers’ comp before losing your job, your claim should still be active. And if you haven’t filed yet, it’s not too late. Your former employer, whether it’s John Deere or another business, is still obligated to review your claim and issue a decision whether to grant benefits. This can be a huge relief for injured workers who have lost their jobs and aren’t healed enough to find a new one in their field.
That doesn’t mean getting benefits will be easy. Employers and their workers’ comp insurance providers tend to look for ways to avoid paying, or at least pay less than the injured worker deserves. For example, they could try to claim your injuries aren’t work-related. They could offer to settle quickly, hoping that you don’t know how much your claim is worth, or drag out a long “investigation” to pressure you to settle. An experienced Iowa workers’ compensation attorney can inform you of your rights, help you negotiate a fair settlement, and represent you on appeal if necessary.
Retaliation and Workers’ Compensation in Iowa
By the way, it’s illegal for an employer to fire a worker for filing for workers’ compensation. When an employer fires a worker because the worker has made a workers’ comp claim the employer doesn’t want to pay, that’s called retaliation. It’s against the law, and if you can prove it happened to you in a lawsuit, you could be entitled to significant compensation, such as the wages you lost because you were wrongfully terminated. A lawyer who focuses on workers’ comp can represent you in a retaliation lawsuit.
Assert Your Right to Workers’ Comp
We recommend that you file for workers’ compensation whenever you get seriously hurt in the course of your work duties. If you get turned down, offered a lowball settlement, or lose your job over the claim, one of our workers’ comp attorneys can help you fight for what you deserve.
