Added Benefits for Dependents

Knowledgeable Attorneys Helping Workers Throughout the Chicago Area

Suffering a work-related injury in Illinois not only affects the ability to earn a wage, but also it often causes financial stress to family and dependents. According to Illinois workers’ compensation laws, employees who endure work-related injuries or medical conditions are entitled to employer-paid benefits as well as reasonable medical care. Added benefits may be available for dependents, such as children or a dependent spouse, depending on the amount of weekly disability payments. The Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers at Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca can help clarify how these benefits are designed to assist your family and you after a job injury. We proudly help employees from a variety of industries, and we only advocate on behalf of injured workers, rather than employers.

Additional Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Dependents

According to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, injuries that take place in the course of employment fall under the Act. Workers need not prove fault for their harm, since the system of benefits is “no fault” and provides for compensation for all employment-related injuries. In addition to medical care, the Act provides for temporary disability, permanent disability, and death benefits.

The compensation available for dependents is set forth in the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Additional benefits for dependents are common in situations involving awards of temporary or permanent disability benefits, as well as when a worker has suffered a fatality. Dependents are generally defined as people related by blood or a marital relationship to the victim. These typically include spouses, children, parents, brothers, aunts, and uncles.

Temporary total disability benefits are awarded to employees who are unable to return to work, or who cannot be accommodated despite being cleared for light-duty work. While working part-time, other injured employees may receive partial disability benefits. Additional payments for each dependent may be available, which often depend on the amount of the weekly payment made to the injured worker.

Benefits for dependents are available when an employee has died, and those affected are in need of monetary support. In this circumstance, the dependents, who may include a widow, widower, or children, may be entitled to payments under the Act. Death or survivor’s benefits may be paid to the decedent’s children. If the fatally injured worker was not survived by a spouse or child, other totally dependent parties may recover benefits. These may include parents or others who were at least 50% dependent on the worker when they died.

Determining whether an individual is a dependent may be complicated. Spouses and minor children are provided with first priority according to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. One or both dependent parents of the deceased worker are then considered, and finally, other family members who partially or totally relied upon the worker’s wages would be eligible for added benefits.

Included in added benefits after the death of a worker are burial costs and long-term compensation for loss of earning power. Typically, this calculation covers two-thirds of the average weekly wage that the worker earned in the year preceding their death. These benefits are provided in a weekly payment.

Contact a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer in Chicago to Help with Your Claim for Benefits

Bringing a work-related injury claim in order to secure benefits for an injured worker may present challenges for people who are unfamiliar with Illinois law. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, our job injury attorneys have decades of experience advocating on behalf of workers in a variety of industries, including union workers and employees working for major airlines, such as United and American. We appreciate that a work injury affects not only the individual worker but also their family and dependents. By understanding your right to added benefits for dependents and relying on our experience and compassionate advocacy, our lawyers can help you pursue a strong claim for the benefits to which you are entitled. We have helped injured workers and their dependents throughout the Chicago region, including people in Springfield, Aurora, Rockford, Winnebago, and other areas of Cook, Adams, Champaign, and Kane Counties. For a no-obligation, complimentary consultation with a skilled lawyer, contact our office at 312-724-5846 or reach us online.