Your Trusted Chicago Workers' Compensation Lawyer
If you were hurt on the job in Chicago, you may be worried about medical bills, lost paychecks, and whether your employer will do right by you. You do not have to face it alone. Furqan Mohammed helps injured workers across Chicago secure the medical care and wage benefits they are owed under Illinois law, so you can focus on recovering.
Understanding Your Right to Workers' Compensation in Illinois
If you were injured at work in Illinois, you have the right to workers’ compensation benefits, no matter who caused the accident. Illinois workers’ compensation is a no-fault system: you do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong to receive benefits. What you do have to do is meet strict deadlines. In most cases, you have three years from the date of your injury, or two years from your last payment of benefits, whichever is later, to file a claim with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (820 ILCS 305/6), and you must notify your employer within 45 days of the accident.
Common Workplace Injuries in Chicago
Workplace injuries happen in every industry, from construction sites and warehouses to offices and hospitals. Understanding how you were hurt helps document your claim. The most common on-the-job injuries include:
Falls, slips, and trips
Repetitive stress injuries
Machinery and equipment accidents
Overexertion and lifting injuries
On-the-job vehicle crashes
Workers' Compensation Is No-Fault
Unlike most injury claims, you do not have to prove that anyone was negligent to receive workers’ compensation. As long as you were injured in the course of your employment, you are generally entitled to benefits, even if the accident was partly your own fault. In exchange, workers’ compensation is usually your exclusive remedy against your employer, meaning you typically cannot sue your employer directly for a workplace injury.
Illinois law also protects you for speaking up: your employer cannot legally fire, demote, or retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim. And if someone other than your employer contributed to your injury, such as a negligent contractor or equipment maker, you may also have a separate third-party claim.
Workers' Compensation Benefits You May Receive
Depending on the nature and severity of your injury, Illinois workers’ compensation (820 ILCS 305/8) may provide several types of benefits, including:
Medical care
Temporary total disability
Permanent partial disability
Wage differential
Vocational rehabilitation
How Furqan Mohammed Can Help
A workers’ compensation lawyer like Furqan Mohammed can guide you through a claim from start to finish, including:
- Filing your claim with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
- Making sure your medical bills and lost wages are covered
- Standing up to employers and insurers who delay or deny benefits
- Representing you at arbitration or on appeal if your claim is disputed
Insurers and employers do not always pay what an injured worker is owed, and a denied or undervalued claim can leave you without income when you need it most. Furqan Mohammed handles the paperwork, deadlines, and hearings before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission so you can focus on healing. The firm serves injured workers across Chicago, with assistance available in Arabic and other languages.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Illinois workers' compensation is a no-fault system. As long as you were injured in the course of your job, you are generally entitled to benefits, even if the accident was partly your own fault.
In most cases you have three years from the date of injury, or two years from your last payment of benefits, whichever is later, to file with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (820 ILCS 305/6). You must also report the injury to your employer within 45 days, so it is best to act quickly.
No. It is illegal in Illinois for an employer to fire, demote, or retaliate against you for filing a workers' compensation claim. If they do, you may have a separate claim against them.
Depending on your injury, you may receive medical care, temporary total disability (two-thirds of your wages while off work), permanent partial or total disability, a wage differential, and vocational rehabilitation (820 ILCS 305/8).
Workers' compensation is usually your exclusive remedy against your employer, so you generally cannot sue them directly. But if a third party, such as a subcontractor or equipment manufacturer, contributed to your injury, you may have a separate claim against them.
