What counts as a work injury

A work injury means damage to health (or death) suffered by an employee in connection with the performance of work. It does not necessarily matter whether the injury happened at the workplace or away from it, nor whether it was down to the employee’s own clumsiness or to something unavoidable.

Does any of this sound familiar?

• Bruising from a fall off a ladder during an installation.
• A cut while operating a machine.
• A fracture while handling a heavy load.

What you are entitled to

Compensation for pain

Compensation for pain is a one-off payment for the physical and mental suffering connected with the injury itself and with its treatment.

Compensation for impaired social functioning

Compensation for impaired social functioning concerns the permanent consequences of a work injury that limit the employee in ordinary life, at work, in education or in social life. It is therefore not about the course of the treatment, but about the consequences that persist once the state of health has stabilised.

Loss of earnings

You are entitled to be paid the difference between what you earned before the work injury and what you receive during the incapacity for work it caused. If you do not reach your original earnings even after the incapacity for work ends, you are entitled to a regular annuity making up the long-term loss of income.

Costs of treatment

You are entitled to reimbursement of reasonably incurred expenses — for example:

• medicines, rehabilitation, medical aids and the like,
• transport to a medical facility,
• help in the household, where the injured person cannot manage alone as a result of the work injury.

One-off compensation on termination of employment

If an employee loses, in the long term, the medical fitness to carry out their existing work as a result of a work injury, and the employment ends for that reason, they may be entitled to a one-off payment of twelve times their average monthly earnings.

When compensation may be reduced or refused

Under certain conditions an employer may be relieved, wholly or in part, of the duty to compensate harm caused by a work injury. That may happen, for example, where the employee culpably breached health and safety rules or instructions, or where alcohol or another addictive substance was involved. Whether the conditions for a reduction or for a full release are actually met is always a question of the particular case.

How compensation is calculated

Compensation for pain and for impaired social functioning is based on a medical report and a points assessment. For loss of earnings what matters most is the earnings before the injury, the income after it and the length of the incapacity for work. The assessment has to take all the individual claims into account, together with the way they relate to one another.

What to do straight away

• Report the work injury to your supervisor and have it entered in the accident book.
• Ask for a certified copy of the record.
• Obtain your medical reports and tell the doctor that the injury happened at work.
• Note down what happened — photographs of the injury, of the place where it happened and so on can help as well.
• Keep every document showing the costs connected with the treatment.

The most common mistakes

• The employee does not report the injury straight away or reports it only “verbally”, with no written record.
• The employee deals only with the loss of earnings during the incapacity for work and overlooks the other claims the injury may give rise to.
• The employee starts dealing with the injury only after a long time, for instance when the employment is being terminated. By then it may be too late.

Frequently asked questions

How much will it cost me?

We are aware that paying for professional legal services is often not easy for injured people. That is why, alongside the free assessment, we also offer a contingency fee (a percentage of the amount we manage to recover for the client). No compensation — no fee.

How long does it take?

Unfortunately there is no simple answer. Straightforward cases can be settled in days or weeks; serious injuries and complicated circumstances can mean months or even years of work.

Do I have to go to court?

A large proportion of cases is resolved before court, once our firm contacts the liable person or the insurer. Sometimes filing a claim is enough for the other side to give up the dispute. Occasionally, though, a case cannot be settled without court proceedings. We are ready to represent you there, so as to obtain your compensation quickly and in the fullest amount possible.

Our results in this area

Work injury

Ludvík P.

I would like to express my sincere thanks for the excellent legal representation in my case concerning impaired social functioning.

After a process lasting almost two and a half years, which was demanding and emotionally draining for me, the law firm Randl Partners gave me not only first-class legal expertise but also valuable support and patience. I am extremely grateful for the determination, the professional approach and the tireless effort that led to a successful decision awarding compensation for impaired social functioning. I would like to thank Mr Flachs in particular for the speed of his communication, for explaining complicated matters clearly and above all for his professional approach.

Thanks to Randls I was able to obtain justice and to close this chapter of my life with a sense of victory. Their work was absolutely crucial and I value it enormously. Once again, thank you to all the members of the team for everything they did for me.

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