Workers' Compensation for State of Illinois Government Employees

We have represented people from all different industries, but the most common, because they have the most jobs are government workers. In the last 20 years we’ve helped hundreds of state of Illinois government employees. The law is the same for IDOT workers, police officers, laborers and all other State employees, but having experience with these cases is really important.

There are approximately 63,000 people employed by the State of Illinois. What do all of those employees do? Almost any type of job imaginable. Those jobs fall into one of the broad categories below:

• Administration/Management
• Clerical and Administrative Support
• Communications/Art/Design
• Facility/Fleet Management
• Fiscal/Finance/Business
• Health Services
• Public Safety
• Sciences and Natural Resources
• Legal and Compliance
• Social Services
• Technology
• Transportation

What other employer has nurses, civil engineers, snow removal operators, corrections clerks, psychologists, cooks and child welfare specialists on its staff?

Throughout the course of their employment, some percentage of these 63,000 workers will unfortunately be injured on the job. The wide variety of jobs lead to a wide array of injuries.

When filing a workers’ compensation case, an employee of the State of Illinois faces a different situation than an employee of a traditional company. Workers’ comp cases against the State of Illinois are defended by the Illinois Attorney General, not by an insurance company. As you can imagine, the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, like most government agencies, can be slow to respond and process workers’ compensation claims. Waiting and waiting for action on your case can be incredibly frustrating.  And you shouldn’t have to wait.

If you are an employee of the State of Illinois who has been hurt at work, how can you make sure your workers’ compensation claim is taken seriously and addressed in a timely manner?

The answer is to hire a workers’ comp attorney. Not just any attorney, but one with years of experience in bringing claims against the State of Illinois. One who is aggressive, will get the ball rolling and persist in getting you a fair settlement.  If benefits are improperly delayed or denied, you need an attorney who will file the right motions to get your case before an Arbitrator.

Workers’ compensation attorneys work on a contingency basis, meaning it doesn’t cost you anything to hire us. Without a lawyer the State can and will try to delay your case or illegally deny it. They simply don’t treat workers fair across the board as they are under staffed and that is part of their strategy for handling cases.

By Mike Helfand

Courtesy of Illinois Workers Compensation Law Blog

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