When you’re hurt while working at Aramark, you may be able to file a workers’ compensation claim. Workers’ compensation is an employee benefits program that is available to almost all workers who receive injuries while on the job. In addition to paying for your medical expenses, workers’ compensation benefits help you recover missed pay when you’re unable to work because of your injuries. If your accident causes temporary or permanent partial disability, you may even be entitled to an additional settlement amount. How Can Someone Get Hurt Working at Aramark? Aramark provides food, facility, and uniform services to schools, stadiums, hospitals, and correctional facilities. Generally, the different potential hazards that a worker may face will vary by position, though some are common to multiple positions. They include: Cooks and food servers: Hot surfaces from grills, fryers, and ovens can cause burns, and slippery floors from fallen food and built-up grease can create falling hazards, even if non-slip shoes are worn. Custodial and maintenance workers: Injuries from dangerous machinery and heavy equipment are possible, and exposure to hazardous chemicals and cleaners can cause poisoning. Delivery drivers: Drivers may be involved in a motor vehicle accident while picking up or dropping off uniforms or supplies. Car accident injuries, like whiplash and concussions can leave you unable to work and can require expensive medical care. Often these workplace safety concerns lead to accidents that cause broken bones, severe burns, and back or neck strains. It doesn’t matter what your position at Aramark is or how your work injury occurred, as an employee of the company, you may be entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits to pay for your medical treatment and lost wages. What Workers' Compensation Laws Am I Covered Under? Each state has individual laws that determine which companies must provide coverage to workers who are injured on the job. For a company as large as Aramark, with more than 250,000 employees nationwide, they may have the option to pay into your state’s workers’ compensation system or offer their own benefits program. Regardless of the type of coverage provided, you may be entitled to receive benefits that pay for your medical treatment and help make up for lost wages if you are injured as an Aramark employee. How to File a Workers’ Compensation Claim Against Aramark If you are employed working as a specialist cook for Aramark there may be a time when you are likely to be injured, as you work in a high risk occupation. You need to follow a process if you wish to receive workers’ compensation while you are being treated and recovering from your injury. The first thing you need to do is get treatment as quickly as you can depending of course on how severe your injury is. If you have a serious burn injury you will need to get someone to call an ambulance as quickly as possible and get you to the nearest emergency room. If your supervisor is immediately aware of your accident s/he should know if you need to seek treatment from an approved emergency room or company doctor if you wish to include your treatment in your workers’ compensation claim. Steps to Take For Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim You will need to inform your supervisor of your accident and injury as soon as possible and preferably in writing. Aramark may have a deadline for this which might be 24 hours from when the accident took place. The next step is to complete a workers’ compensation claim form. You may be lucky and your supervisor may provide you with one otherwise you may need to visit your state’s workers’ compensation board to collect one. You will need to include the key details of the accident on the claim form. These include: your full name; your job with Aramark; the type of injury you have sustained; how the injury took place; the names of any other workers involved. You need to convince Aramark’s workers’ compensation insurers that you are eligible for workers’ compensation. This means you have to include as much evidence as you can that clearly supports your claim. Gathering Evidence for an Aramark Workers’ Compensation Claim There are a number of pieces of suitable evidence which will help to back-up your claim including: written eye witness accounts of how the accident took place; photos taken in the kitchen where the accident took place; photos of your injury immediately following the accident; footage from Aramark’s surveillance cameras; report written by the doctor treating you including the diagnosis, treatment and recovery time; receipts for treatment you have already paid for; invoices for unpaid treatment; receipt or invoice for ambulance. It is important that you discuss your WC claim with a WC lawyer as you don’t you’re your claim denied. Evidence is crucial to support your WC claim and without it your claim could be denied. Typical reasons for a denial are: you had no witnesses to the accident; the date you filed the claim was after you had left the job with Aramark; you failed to report your injury on time is crucial to any WC claim so if you think you are going to need to take time off work report your injury immediately to your supervisor and fill out the accident report form given you. The Value of An Aramark Workers’ Compensation Claim In a Tennessee workers’ compensation case, Grajeda v. Aramark, Evangelina Grajeda injured herself while working in Aramark’s uniform services division. As part of her workers’ compensation claim, Grajeda was awarded medical costs and lost wages. Since she was given a 6% permanent partial disability rating by her treating physician, she was also awarded a $5,000 settlement. If you've been injured, you may want to know what you'd be entitled to as far as workers' compensation is concerned. While workers are generally covered for their medical expenses and a portion of lost wages, the amount in worker's compensation benefits that you receive can vary. You can find more about the the value of an Aramark workers' comp claim here: What's My Aramark Workers Comp Claim Worth? Workers’ Compensation for a Burn Injury at Aramark How to Calculate a Settlement for a WC Claim Against Aramark for a Burn Injury Your workers’ compensation claim should include 2/3rds of your weekly wage while you are off work, the cost of all medical treatment and out of pocket expenses like taxi costs to get you to the doctor. Depending on the severity of the burn, pain medication and antibiotics may be administered immediately. It may be necessary to surgically remove dead or loose burnt tissue. Followed by this is the use of skin grafts to replace scarred tissue. If there has been any disfigurement such as to the face cosmetic surgery may be required to help restore the face’s appearance. Estimate of Typical Costs for a Burn Injury Ambulance fee = $200. Emergency room fee with treatment = $3,000. 7 day course of amoxicillin = $70. 10 day hospital stay = $20,000. 5 skin grafts = $15, 000. Cosmetic surgery to the face: $30,000. 2/3rd of $13 per hour for 40 hour week for 12 weeks = $4,128. Total workers’ compensation = $63,298. Get the Help You Need After a Work Injury Your state’s laws will determine what steps you must take after being injured in a workplace accident. This will likely include when you must report your accident to Aramark and how to initiate a workers’ compensation claim. Before attempting to go through the claims process alone, contact a workers’ compensation attorney for help. He or she will guide you through the claims process, make sure you meet all deadlines for filing, and document your accident and injuries for you. When it comes time to settling your case, a workers’ compensation attorney will provide the effective representation you need to recover the maximum settlement amount you are entitled to under your state’s laws. *The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Aramark, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
