If you are involved in an accident at your workplace and are badly injured or develop a work-related sickness, you may be able to recover the cost of the injuries or illness through a workers’ compensation claim. It depends partly on the state you are working in and the size and category of the employer. All large private employers like the Dollar General chain are required to have workers’ comp. insurance. Talk to an attorney who deals with workers’ comp. if you are confused about your rights and would like to learn more about how much your claim is worth. Dollar General’s Company Profile With over 12,400 discount stores across the country, and 130,000 employees nationwide, there are Dollar General stores within easy reach of many people, even in some smaller cities where there is no other discount store Dollar General may have cheap goods, but few of them are just a dollar, except for the “dollar deals”. The chain of stores sells branded goods as well as no name or generic goods. Dollar General has a few competitors, depending on the part of the U.S. you live in. Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Fred’s and 99 Cents Only are all similar types of stores which basically sell goods which are cheaper than many other stores. How Your Normal Earnings Dictate the Level of Compensation You Might Receive If you have been injured in a Dollar General store while at work, you might have to forego several days, or even weeks, working if your injuries are serious. A successful workers’ compensation claim should pay a percentage of your normal weekly earnings until you return to work. This is usually pegged at around two thirds of the normal amount of earnings, although it might be a little different from state to state. To take an example, an assistant store manager who has to take two week off work because of a hernia that happened while lifting boxes at work may normally earn $10 an hour for a 40 hour week. If the compensation claim is successful, then the amount of compensation for lost wages should be around $6.67 multiplied by 40 hours for each week at home. How Much is a Dollar General Claim Worth? If you were working for Dollar General and you fell sick, or had an accident that caused an injury so you had to take time off work to receive treatment and recover, you should be entitled to a workers’ compensation claim. Most employers have WC coverage for their employees but this does not mean they release the money easily. You may have to put up a fight to get the WC you deserve. Gathering Evidence for a Workers’ Compensation Claim The first thing you need to do before putting up a fight to get the WC you deserve is to ensure you have sufficient evidence that proves your illness or accident took place while you were at work. If you don’t have the right evidence, this gives your employer the chance to deny your WC claim so that you have to go back to the beginning and start your WC claim all over again. Examples of Evidence That Can Be Used in a Dollar General WC Claim There are certain sorts of evidence that you can use to support your WC claim and these include: a diagnosis from your doctor describing the nature of your injury or illness and how it was caused; receipts for medical treatment you have already paid for; unpaid invoices for additional medical treatment; eye witness reports from your co-workers describing the injury or sickness and how it occurred; photographs of the accident sight which proves where the injury and accident took place; footage taken from surveillance cameras in place in the workplace. What Kind of Workers’ Compensation Could You Receive for a Dollar General WC Claim? If your WC claim is accepted by your employer’s insurer you can expect to receive any of the following benefits: the full cost of medical care from the start to the finish of your illness or injury; rehabilitation benefits like cost of physical therapy or counseling due to the effects of your injury or illness; disability benefits which are typically calculated based on the wage you were receiving when the injury or sickness first took place; death benefits sometimes provided to the close family of a deceased Dollar General worker to cover the financial loss to the family because of the death. Disability Benefits From Workers’ Comp. Disability benefits are the amount of money you get from workers’ comp. as a replacement for lost wages that have taken place because you are unable to work. Disability is assessed in different forms which are: temporary total disability; temporary partial disability; temporary partial disability; permanent disability. A temporary total disability is one of the commonest because it is when an employee cannot work at all for a temporary period and then eventually returns to her/his usual job in Dollar General when fully recovered. A temporary partial disability is when you can probably still work but not in your usual job but once you have recovered you can return to your usual job. An example of this type of disability is when your doctor says you can take on part-time work for the time being and go back to your full-time work when your recovery is complete. As you won’t be paid your full wage when in the part-time job the WC insurer should pay the difference between what you are currently being paid part-time and your full time wage. A permanent partial disability is a disability that is unlikely to improve because of the damage done to you inside your workplace. You may still be able to undertake some work or you may need to undertake training in a different skill. There is normally a limit to time for WC to be paid. A permanent total disability is when the damage is so bad you are unable to return to work at all. The amount of WC benefits paid for this disability is calculated in relation to your last pay slip and 2/3rds of that is paid every week. Some states set limits on how long workers’ compensation can be paid. Whatever disability you have will affect the amount you can claim in workers’ compensation. The key thing about any successful workers’ compensation claim is hiring an experienced WC attorney who knows the best way to win a successful claim. How Much is a WC Claim at Dollar General Worth? If an assistant retail store manager trips over an obstacle in a Dollar General store and breaks his/her arm, this can be devastating for the store manager. This could be considered to be a temporary total disability, which would attract two thirds of his/her weekly wage in workers’ compensation for the time spent off work. The average weekly wage for assistant store managers is $12 per hour. On top of that is $2,500 to treat the broken arm and out-of-pocket expenses need to be included in a WC claim such as taxi fares to for medical treatment and shopping. An Average Workers’ Comp. Payment at Dollar Tree for a Broken Arm The average time off work for a broken to heal is 8 weeks. The average cost to treat a broken arm in a medical treatment is $2,500 Out of pocket expenses = 2X Taxi Fares to the hospital rt = $200 8 x taxi fares to the shopping center = $800 Wages = 8 weeks X 40 hrs. X $12= $3,480 / 2/3 = $2,320 Average total workers’ compensation = $2,500 + $200 +$800+$2,320=$4,820. You Will Need a WC Attorney Many workers’ comp. claims are often denied due to insufficient evidence that the accident took place at a Dollar Tree store. To help prevent a denial you should contact a WC attorney as soon as possible so you s/he can file a claim on your behalf. Your attorney will make sure all your evidence can be proved and the amount you are claiming for medical treatment matches the average payments for the medical condition in this case a broken arm. Talk to a Workers’ Comp. Attorney if Struggling With Your WC Claim Not every workers’ comp. claim is straightforward. There can be problems convincing your employer’s insurer that your injuries or illness happened at work. You may find that the payment is unsatisfactory or even denied. For these sorts of reasons, you may find it worth your while contacting a workers’ comp. attorney about 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 Dollar General, or any other company, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
