Q: Illinois Worker's Compensation late claim past the due date questions.
If I was on an unpaid leave of absence with my employer is that considered as still being an employee for the company? As far as the original injury goes, the symptoms first appeared in early Nov. 2017 and an MRI told us what was going on for sure in Dec. 2017. Herniated disc, bulging disc, sciatica, lower lumbar back pain. I used Illinois Medicaid insurance for all the medical bills besides cash I used for out of network care briefly. If I came back to work briefly and after I was off work I was on an unpaid leave of absence until I quit in April 2022, still got back treatment, and it was paid by Medicaid, if a doctor would tell me and give me a note that says that my injury was work related and other treatment I got was injury related, would that qualify as being able to file a worker's comp claim in Illinois?
A:
The most common way to date an injury from repetitive stress trauma (wear and tear) is to use the first day that you went to seek medical attention. For you, that is going to be some date in 2017 so the statute of limitations is going to be the same date in 2020. Remember that in addition to the three-year statute of limitations, you must provide some notice to your employer that you sustained a work-related injury within 45 days. If you provide no notice to your employer until 60 days your claim would not be timely even if you filed it two months later. BOTH conditions must be met.
It is also important for you to understand that for an injury to be compensable under the Illinois Worker's Compensation Act, the injury must have been sustained in the course and scope of your employment. For example, if you work Monday through Friday, there is no question that you are still an employee of the company on Saturday and Sunday. That said, if you are injured on Saturday or Sunday other than working overtime for your employer, the injury is not compensable under the Illinois Worker's Compensation Act. I am telling you this by way of explanation that whether you were an employee during the period of unpaid leave has absolutely nothing to do with your analysis of whether your reporting of the injury or your filing of a claim is timely.
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