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…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney | Last reviewed August 2026 Quick answer: Complex regional pain syndrome – also called CRPS and formerly called RSD in many Type I cases – may be covered by Illinois workers’ compensation when a work injury or related treatment caused or aggravated it. These claims are frequently…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney | Last reviewed August 2026 Quick answer: Illinois workers’ compensation may be required to pay for a spinal cord stimulator trial and, if the trial succeeds, a permanent implant when the treatment is reasonably necessary and related to the work injury. Approval usually depends on the diagnosis,…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney | Last reviewed August 2026 Case result: McHargue & Jones recently won an Illinois workers’ compensation arbitration decision authorizing a spinal cord stimulator trial for a worker with chronic low-back and leg pain. The arbitrator found the injured worker credible, relied on the treating doctors over a…
By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Quick answer: Yes. McHargue & Jones handles workers’ compensation cases in Joliet and throughout Will County. Our office is in Chicago, but we regularly appear for Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission status calls, hearings, and trials in Joliet. We have represented employees of Amazon, Grainger, Caterpillar, Ascension Saint…
By Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones Case result: McHargue & Jones won a contested Section 19(b) hearing for an Illinois State employee after the State argued that her fall at work was idiopathic or otherwise unrelated to her employment. Gallagher Bassett administered the claim as the State’s third-party administrator, and the Illinois Attorney…
By Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Matthew C. Jones Quick answer: Many falls at work are covered by Illinois workers’ compensation, but coverage is not automatic merely because the accident happened at the workplace. The employee must generally prove that the fall arose out of and occurred in the course of employment. Water, condensation, snow, ice,…
McHargue & Jones, LLC has filed an Illinois workers’ compensation claim with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission on behalf of a coworker who was at the scene of the reported Nippon Paint Automotive Americas workplace shooting in Lansing. The claim involves alleged PTSD, emotional distress, and psychological trauma connected to the reported workplace violence event….
Quick answer: Yes. Home health care workers are often covered by Illinois workers’ compensation if they are injured while doing their job. That can include injuries inside a patient’s home, while helping transfer or lift a patient, after a fall on someone else’s property, from a dog bite, during an assault, or in a car…
By Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Matthew C. Jones Quick answer: Usually, yes. Violating a workplace safety rule does not automatically disqualify you from workers’ compensation in Illinois. If you were still doing your job or another activity connected to your employment, the violation may amount only to negligence—and workers’ compensation benefits are generally paid regardless…
By Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Matthew C. Jones Teachers and school employees in Illinois may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits when they are injured while doing their jobs. This can include student assaults, special education injuries, recess injuries, field trip accidents, playground injuries, slip-and-falls, lifting injuries, classroom accidents, repetitive trauma, PTSD, concussions, and injuries…
