Getting hurt at work is never a great time, but it can be a big headache if you're not quite an employee of the company. Here are some questions to ask yourself to figure out where you stand with a work injury as a contractor.

Does their Insurance Policy Cover You?

If you are a contractor, then the company likely didn't purchase any workers compensation insurance for you. If that is the case, ask your boss what they would like you to do. They may have already made some provisions for employees in your situation, such as funds that they can use to help you cover medical expenses.

Are You Really a Contractor?

At this point, you may need to ask yourself, are you really a contractor? Your employee contract may say so, but do you actually behave more like a full-time employee? Some signs are that you've had full-time hours for the past several months or years, you only work for one company, and you have similar levels of benefits and responsibilities as other members of the team. If this case resembles your situation, then your employer may be in a legally ambiguous place where they could get in a lot of trouble for classifying you incorrectly as a contractor. You can keep this bit of information in your back pocket as a bargaining chip in case you need it later.

Where Can You Get the Most Bang for Your Buck?

So, you have a few choices now. If you are accepting the fact that you're injured as a contractor, then you could still sue the company for a personal injury claim if you were hurt on their property. This can be even more beneficial in some ways. While the worker's compensation insurance policy may be pretty straightforward with paying for medical bills and giving out standard amounts of pay for recovery time, you have more to gain with a personal injury case in some instances. If the injury was fairly severe and you had a lot of pain and loss of ability, then your lawyer may be able to get you a better settlement with a personal injury case.

The other route to go would be to have a workers compensation lawyer argue that you should be covered. They will work to show that you are a bona fide employee whose rights are protected under worker's compensation.

If you have any questions about how a Workers' Compensation Attorney can help you, contact a company like Locklin & Mordhorst