If you are an Indiana employee, you have probably had a reason to check out the workers compensation in your state. If you have any questions about your own rights, or if you have a dispute, you can check with the Indiana Department Of Labor for help and information. Your employer is required, by state law, to post information about their plan in a prominent place at work. You may see a poster in the company break room or other public posting area. If you do not see any posted information, you can ask your personal department or contact the Department of Labor to ask about your own employer's plan.



Your state requires most employers to protect their employees. Temporary employees are also covered, though the coverage may be through a staffing company, rather than the actual company you are working with at the time of the injury. Federal workers, even those in Indiana, are probably covered under the separate federal employee's program.

You might be surprised at the types of work related injuries that you can make a claim for. While many claimants are injured in a specific accident, some injuries are never tied to one single accident. In fact a sizable amount of claims are caused by overexertion, which can happen in one incident of overwork, or it can happen over time. It may seem obvious that a manual laborer could suffer from overexertion, but this type of chronic injury can affect store clerks and office workers too! If you lose time from work because of overexertion, no matter what job you do, be sure and explore your rights under Indiana Workers Compensation Rules.

Another chronic injury that affects office workers is carpal tunnel syndrome. People who spend long hours doing repetitive motions, either on an Assembly line or a computer, can suffer severe pain. They may need surgery or therapy, and may certainly lose time work time and pay! In this case, the employee can ask for leave for their treatment. While they recover, they may be offered another job that does not require the same repetitive movement.

Injuries do not have to be physical. Psychological injuries are covered. Stress or irregular sleep patterns caused by work shifts may be examples of covered injuries. Of course, a serious accident could also cause mental trauma, and this should be evaluated as part of the injury. A worker may need a combination of physical and psychological therapy or medication.

You also do not need to be at your place of work at the time of the injury in order to make a claim. If you are traveling for your job, a car accident may be covered. This would not cover your normal commute to and from work.

The important thing to remember is that you may have a claim, even if you cannot tie an injury to one specific accident. You do not need to be in your normal office or place of work, but you do need to be performing your job. Also, injuries can be mental, and do not need to be physical in order to deserve treatment under the law.