What Happens to Your Workers’ Comp Benefits if You Lose Your Job? 

Employers and their insurers are required under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act to pay temporary total disability benefits to employees injured while engaged in acts within the scope of their employment. A workers’ compensation attorney at Saks, Robinson & Rittenberg, Ltd. in Chicago can help you protect your rights following a work injury. 

Many employees want to know what happens to workers’ compensation benefits when an employee loses his or her job. An employee can be terminated while still receiving workers’ compensation benefits, as long as the reason for termination is wholly unrelated to the work injury – such as a factory closure, a reduction in workforce, downsizing, etc. 

You will continue to receive workers’ compensation benefits if you are terminated after suffering an injury while at your place of employment. Workers’ compensation is designed to help injured employees pay the costs of medical care. Injured employees are also entitled to periodic wage replacement payments if an injured employee is not able to work due to the injuries they sustained on the job.

What You Should Do If You Have Been Terminated

The reason the employer terminated the employee is an important factor when determining whether an employee can be fired while receiving workers’ compensation benefits. An employer cannot terminate an employee because the employee actually filed or attempted to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. This is unlawful retaliation under 820 ILCS 305/4(h). 

Employers in Illinois cannot threaten employees with job loss to intimidate them into not filing workers’ compensation claims. However, Illinois is an at-will state, and employers can terminate employees for almost any reason as long as it does not violate the law or public policy. There are many reasons beyond retaliation for which an employee might get fired. 

Make sure you let your attorney know immediately if you have been terminated. so that your rights and benefits can be protected.

What If My Employer Went Bankrupt?

An employee may still receive workers’ compensation benefits even though the employee was terminated because an employer filed bankruptcy. Insurers pay workers’ compensation benefits, and workers’ compensation coverage should still be available after a business stops operating. The attorneys at Saks, Robinson & Rittenberg, Ltd. can help you fight for your workers’ compensation benefits if an employer claims you cannot receive benefits because the employer filed bankruptcy. 

Obtaining Legal Representation

Employers in Illinois must hold worker’s compensation insurance. Consulting with a workers’ compensation attorney in the state of Illinois can help you understand how best to pursue legal recourse. Speaking with an attorney is strongly advised if you believe you lost your job due to you obtaining or trying to obtain worker’s compensation benefits. 

A Workers’ Compensation Retaliatory Discharge Attorney in Illinois Can Help

If you lost your job in retaliation for seeking workers’ compensation benefits, or if your benefits were cut off because you were fired, then you need to contact a competent worker’s compensation retaliatory discharge attorney immediately.  We have a track record of success in this field and have recovered millions of dollars in damages for wrongly terminated workers.