Does the employer you work for carry workers’ compensation insurance? If you are injured at work or develop a work related illness then you may be able to claim financial compensation to help with medical treatment and any earnings that you might lose due to absence from work. Most large employers do have workers’ comp insurance but their insurers may not be too happy to make compensation payments without considerable effort on your part. If you are in a position where you need to make a claim and are finding it difficult to understand the process, establish your rights or encounter resistance from the insurer, then discuss the situation with a workers’ comp. attorney. 99 Cent Only Stores - Company Profile 99 Cent Only stores are almost just that. They sell heavily discounted items for mostly less than a dollar. The idea almost started by accident when the company’s founder David Gold, noticed that a bottle of wine that wasn’t selling at any other price sold very quickly for 99 cents. That was back in 1969. By now, the chain has expanded to 400 stores, most of which are either in Southern California or the nearby states of Arizona, Nevada and Texas. The stores sell a variety of different goods, all of which are cheap. The company still sells one or more items for 99 cents or less each time it opens a new store to raise publicity. Nearly 12,000 people work at one or another of the 394 stores. The headquarters are in Commerce, California. Hourly Wages at 99 Cent Stores Only With over 11,000 people working for 99 Cents Only stores, there is always the chance that an accident is going to occur somewhere involving a worker. Most employees work in the stores stocking shelves with goods, helping customers and taking payments at the checkout. Assistant managers, store managers and order selectors are paid a little more for their work. The hourly wage determines to a large extent what a 99 Cent store worker might be able to claim if there is a workplace accident or illness that means they are unable to return to work afterwards for some time. The figures quoted below have been obtained from payscale.com’s website and are data valid for August 2017. stocker: $9.60 an hour; sales assistants and cashiers: $9.33 an hour; order selector: $12.18; retail assistant manager: $13.87 an hour; retail store manager: $17.14 an hour. Calculating Workers’ Comp. Payments After a 99 cent Store Injury There are two types of payments that may be awarded after a workers’ compensation claim is settled. The first is for medical expenses. In most cases, this can be the largest of the two payments, but is relatively easy to calculate. Generally, whatever you have had to pay out for treatment that is related to a specifically work related illness or injury should be recovered in compensation. It is important to clearly establish that the payments are related to an injury or illness that definitely happened at work. Collecting the paperwork will be important when you make your claim. The second main payment is compensation for any earnings that are lost as a direct result of the injury(ies). This is never the full amount but a percentage, commonly around two thirds. The calculation is made by multiplying the normal hourly wage by the number of hours lost and the percentage stipulated by the state’s workers’ compensation board. For example, if a cashier at a 99 Cent Only store, working a 7 hour day, slips over and dislocates their hip and eventually only returns to work after a 60 day absence, the calculation would be as follows: 9.33 (hourly wage for a cashier) x 7 (no. of hours a day) x 60 (no. of days absent) x 0.67 (percent of claim) = $2,625. Why a Workers’ Comp. Attorney Could be of Help It may seem unfair that you have to struggle to have your claim accepted, but that may be the way it is. It is important to have all your paperwork in order and proof that you were working at the time you were injured or became sick. It is not uncommon for insurers to try and claim that the injury you were claiming for didn’t happen at work. If you find resistance to your claim or your claim is denied outright, go and see a workers’ compensation attorney to see how he or she can help you win your claim. *The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against 99 Cents Only, or any other party, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
