By Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones If you were injured at work in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, you can discuss your workers’ compensation case with us in Spanish. I am attorney Matthew C. Jones, and I speak Spanish. Our administrative team also includes Spanish speakers. At McHargue & Jones, LLC, our firm has…
Updated November 4, 2026 · By Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones Quick answer: A prior workers’ compensation settlement does not automatically reduce a new Illinois claim. The most common prior-injury PPD credit applies only when compensation was previously paid for permanent loss of use of the same scheduled body member. When it applies, the…
By Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones If you return to work with temporary restrictions after an Illinois work injury and earn less, you may qualify for temporary partial disability benefits, or TPD. The pay loss can come from a lower hourly rate, fewer hours, or lost overtime. Returning to work does not necessarily mean…
By Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones An Illinois employer may offer temporary light-duty work at a charity or nonprofit while you recover from a work injury. In my experience, IWCC arbitrators have often accepted these arrangements and recommended that injured workers report for suitable work and get paid. Refusing an assignment simply because it…
By Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones | Updated October 14, 2026 In Illinois workers’ compensation, average weekly wage (AWW) is generally calculated from your actual gross earnings during the 52-week period ending with your last full pay period before the injury. The calculation can change when you lost time from work, started the job…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney A worker can report a hand, elbow, shoulder, or forearm injury after an accident and later learn that the real problem may be in the cervical spine. That does not mean the worker was exaggerating, changing the story, or inventing a new injury. Nerves travel from the…
A grocery-store fall can happen in seconds: a spill near produce, water tracked in from the entrance, a leaking freezer, dropped merchandise, a curled mat, or an object left in an aisle. Proving a claim, however, often depends on what can still be shown days or weeks later. The store may have surveillance video, inspection…
After a car accident, one of the first surprises is that the at-fault driver’s insurance company usually does not immediately pay your emergency-room, ambulance, therapy, imaging, or doctor bills. Even when liability seems clear, the liability insurer commonly investigates first and pays a claim later—often as part of a settlement. In the meantime, you may…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Sometimes—but not simply because a paycheck calls the hours “overtime.” In Illinois workers’ compensation, the average weekly wage (AWW) is the number used to set important benefit rates, including TTD and many permanent-disability payments. Section 10 of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act generally excludes overtime. But courts…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney An Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission arbitrator has ordered authorization of shoulder-replacement treatment and a pre-operative CT scan for a manufacturing worker injured when her hand and arm became caught in a machine. The decision also awarded 66 4/7 weeks of TTD and payment of outstanding medical bills….
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney A warehouse worker who developed worsening arm pain, numbness, weakness, and cervical-radiculopathy symptoms after pulling a stuck pallet has won a final Illinois workers’ compensation arbitration decision. The arbitrator ordered the employer to authorize a multi-level C4-C7 cervical fusion, awarded more than 162 weeks of temporary total…
By Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones | Updated August 13, 2026 When a worker dies because of a job-related accident or occupational disease, the family may be entitled to much more than payment toward the funeral. Illinois law can provide weekly death benefits to qualifying survivors, payment of medical expenses related to the…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation LawyerPublished August 13, 2026; last reviewed August 13, 2026. Quick answer: Illinois changed its workers’ compensation law on August 7, 2026. Public Act 104-0792 creates a 90-day deadline for certain employer-requested medical examinations used to dispute whether treatment is reasonable and necessary. The examining doctor must be board-certified…
