UCLA Workplace Injury Lawyer

The University of California, Los Angeles is the largest of the 10 campus locations in the UC system. UCLA has more than 45,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled. They support those students by employing a little over 42,000 staff. They are there to handle the education and operational needs of the university for all its students. The UC system classifies UCLA as a single campus, but the university has several different buildings and sites across the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. The main campus is in Westwood, with UCLA Health located in downtown Los Angeles, with a recent expansion into the South Bay. These are just a couple of examples of how wide they are spread in the county, geography-wise.

The university operates like a small city. This means that, like a city, UCLA has every type of job and role to meet the overall purpose of the university, which is education. A great many people on staff at UCLA will work in direct contact with students and other customers every single day. One thing that they all have in common, as an educator, or a staff member advising students, the operational staff that takes care of the facilities on campus, or one of the employees coaching in the many sports represented at UCLA, is that every employee is eligible for worker’s compensation. If you are a UCLA employee who has been hurt at work or on the job but off campus, there are some crucial details regarding the university worker’s compensation program you need to know about.

The first and the most critical thing you need to know is that the University of California system of schools, including UCLA, is self-insured in providing worker’s compensation insurance for its employees. If you have previously made a worker’s compensation claim while employed in the State of California, know that the two separate systems have some things in common. Still, they are different in many other areas, focused primarily on process steps like the time limit to make claims, reporting, and benefits. It is a well-documented set of processes, and Kenmore Law Group can provide assistance if you need a UCLA employee worker’s compensation lawyer to help secure benefits if your claim is being denied.

The UC worker’s compensation program is funded by deposits made into a trust fund. That fund is managed by the UC President’s Office or UCPO. The worker’s compensation program for UCLA itself is managed by a 3rd party, which is Sedgewick CMS. They handle the rulings on eligibility and distribution of benefits. Beginning with a detailed notification process to filing of reports and claims, the system is well documented for each and every phase, from treatment to award of benefits. Step 1 is getting medical treatment for you as the injured employee. The notification process should be followed, and your supervisor will be the best person to work with to make specific those steps, as well as those outlined below, are taken and followed.

The Time Limit For Reporting An Injury And Filing A Claim With The UC Worker’s Comp System
The time limit is up to 48 hours from notification of your accident and injury to your immediate supervisor. They have 24 hours to get the form to you. You have 24 hours from receipt of the form to return it completed. If you have a severe injury or require hospitalization, then UC worker’s compensation requires a notification via a phone call to the Environmental Health and Safety Hotline. Kenmore Law Group is happy to help you or your family by assisting in whatever way is necessary if you need a UCLA workplace injury lawyer.

If you find yourself in need of legal advice or representation, please reach out to the Kenmore Law Group. We are ready to help answer the questions you might have about the UC worker’s compensation coverage of injuries when working for UCLA. This includes all the steps that need to be followed exactly. Our focus is to provide you with the information and access that you need regarding the UCLA worker’s compensation processes. Our legal team will schedule a free initial consultation, if and when required, with a UCLA workplace injury lawyer. They will be ready to discuss your case in person with you as soon as you have the time available in your schedule.

During the initial meeting, you will be asked to provide your UCLA employee workplace injury lawyer with all the details about your injury incident, including copies of any forms that have been submitted to the university, a timeline that should note the names and information provided, and when each was done, all beginning with the moment after the incident occurred. We will review the specific issues and circumstances that led to your accident, the history of the hazard that caused it, and, most importantly, the injuries you suffered as a result of the accident. Kenmore Law Group will be ready and able to review with you how the UC worker’s compensation program at UCLA should be handling your claim.

What Are The Injury Types And Workplace Hazards For A UCLA Employee?
Many jobs have common injuries based on what people are doing and what hazards they face on a frequent basis. Being an employee at UCLA is no different from any job that requires constant or consistent physical effort, the operation of equipment or tools, or simply the use of a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. What makes injuries at UCLA difficult to predict is, as mentioned earlier, run like a small city in many ways. The biggest, again as noted earlier, is the wide range of jobs available.

The different injuries we have seen run from slip or trip and falls to minor electrical shocks to automobile accidents. The common injuries and hazards across any job are:

• Broken bones from falls or trips
• Sprains cause damage to the connective tissue of joints or complete joint dislocations
• Back, neck, and spinal cord injuries
• Head injuries that range from a severe concussion to skull fractures
• Other common hazards are encountered, and they don’t always lead to injury. They should not, however, be ignored because they happen frequently.
• Office and university equipment that might shock or burn, like a coffee pot in a breakroom or an unsafe hot water tank

• Environmental issues like fire, flooding, earthquakes, and tsunami waves
• Exposure to cleaning chemicals in poorly ventilated areas
• Machinery hazards, such as a runaway vehicle or malfunctioning safety devices
• Prolonged exposure to unsafe noise levels causes damage

Is My Workplace Injury Going To Be Covered By The UCLA Worker’s Compensation Program?
Generally speaking, the answer should be yes. If you are injured while working and performing your job duties, as an employee of the university, you can expect that any resulting injuries will be covered by the UCLA worker’s compensation program. There are some exceptions that UC worker’s compensation may not cover. They include examples like being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while at work or being injured due to the reckless operation of a vehicle. If an investigation finds your physical or mental state to be a factor in the cause of the incident and injury that happened, then it is possible that the UCLA worker’s compensation may deny your claim.

If you do get hurt while at work, we recommend that you get a full medical exam as soon as you can after the incident. Any type of injury should be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible. It is common for anyone injured to experience shock and not notice the pain they have. The UCLA Occupational Health office will handle most of the common injuries and should examine you thoroughly when you see them.

The Key Benefits Offered By The UCLA Worker’s Compensation Program
This is a brief list of the benefits that the UCLA worker’s compensation program will provide for you if you are injured at work. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Full payment of all approved medical bills, including hospital and prescription costs, with no out of pocket expenses by the employee
• If you do receive a bill or out of pocket expense for anything related to your accident, a submittal for approval will get reimbursed when approved by the program
• If you experience long-term disability from the injuries, the program offers temporary long-term disability payments equaling 66% of your regular pay pre-tax.
• Human resources will work directly with you to review what the options are to cover the gap between the disability payments and your full paycheck

If your doctor advises you that you can return to work but with permanent or temporary restrictions, you can give the documentation from the doctor to your supervisor and your HR representative. You can also contact UCLA Disability Management, and a Consultant will provide assistance for any reasonable requests for help.

Filing Suit Against UCLA For Personal Injury At Work
Under regular circumstances, you cannot sue UCLA for being injured at work. Worker’s compensation, even an employer funded and managed one, is considered to be an exclusive remedy for any injured employee. The company’s liability level for potentially contributing to or causing your injuries is something that can be reviewed by Kenmore Law Group staff and your UCLA workplace injury lawyer. It may present the opportunity to file a lawsuit if they are suspected of being guilty of gross negligence, leading to the cause of the accident and your injuries.

Gross negligence is defined as willful misconduct or a reckless disregard for the safety of others from a legal standpoint. What we need to be able to do is to prove that the employer acted with an intentional desire to harm or in some way disregarded the safety of the workplace and staff. The actions or decisions can be shown as the cause of the injury and hazard. If this is suspected and can be proven, we will recommend that a personal injury lawsuit be filed.

The Kenmore Law Group Clients And Upfront Costs
When you need a UCLA workplace injury lawyer, Kenmore Law Group will never require you to pay any legal fees or expenses upfront. We will bill you only after the claim or case is resolved in a satisfactory manner. If you do not win your UCLA worker’s comp claim or if we go to court in a lawsuit and do not win your case, you will not be billed for our time at all. If you need any assistance at all in dealing with or filing a worker’s compensation claim with UCLA, please do not wait before you call Kenmore Law Group. We are highly experienced and can help you obtain the benefits you are entitled to under the worker’s compensation program at UCLA and in the State of California.