“In the state of Wisconsin, about 98% of employees are covered by insurance.”
An employer is considered any legal entity, profitable or non-profitable, which has three or more employees. If an employer has less than three employees but has a pay list of 500 dollars or more he must also cover his workers.
“Employees can be full or part-time workers but in either case, they have the right to be covered in Wisconsin.”
Injuries at the workplace can be physical and mental and may occur from a one-time accident or some disease.
- If a person’s work is only tied to one place like an office or factory, the injury will only be covered if it happens at that place.
- If a person’s work is based on traveling than the person is covered even while sleeping.
- The only exception is the personal time someone takes at work.
Wisconsin Workplace Hearing Loss Workers Compensation
The first step
In identifying a hearing loss is a doctor’s evaluation of the possible problem. When the evaluation process is over, the hearing loss is calculated to determine if it can be compensated. The degree of hearing loss should be equal to the time the person is out of work.
The second step
Is answering questions about the hearing loss. These questions investigate work history, the machines, and equipment used during work and the noise level at work. Hearing tests and hearing aids purchased in the past are also important.
Law offices dealing with these kinds of issues will contact the firm and health providers. Hearing tests made closest to the time of quitting the job are considered most accurate and are used to determine the number of benefits from compensation.
Also, one additional examination with a specialist will be needed to check if there are some medical conditions that may cause the hearing loss problem.
The third step
Is to review the history of all jobs the worker has done before. If needed there are also examinations and tests of the workplace in question for sound intensity and loudness.
When all information is taken it is presented to the insurance company which was covering at the time of the employee’s working agreement.
If it is determined that the severity of the hearing problem and the intensity of noise at the working place are reasonable for compensation, the insurance company must pay for it.
If this outcome arises it does not mean the employer should be taken to court, or that any kind of lawsuit should take place. Wisconsin Workplace Hearing Loss compensation system is a no-fault administration system that requires no finding of employer fault and requires no lawsuit.[1]
The fourth step
Is to wait for the decision. Cases with larger amounts in play usually take more than one year to be decided.
The cost of waiting definitely pays off because the costs of hearing aids are much higher.
“Some not so uncommon cases brought 50000 US dollars (without taxes) plus the hearing aid bills paid.”
The most common payments that are given out are in the range from 3000$ to 7500$ plus payments for hearing aids.
Important facts
- Hobbies like working with wood, hunting, and other hobbies with higher levels of noise, along with visiting music concerts are acceptable, and a person can still file for a working compensation if the noise level at work was higher than allowed.
- Many employers started to demand from their workers to wear hearing protection at work but only in the last few years. Earlier that was not the case. But even if workers wear protection sometimes they need to talk to other colleagues and thus they remove it. The conclusion is that workers can apply for compensation for the time they did not wear protection at work.
- People who are retired can also file for hearing loss benefits anytime they want to. Only workers that are retired more than 12 years must file against a state-sponsored fund and the former employer.
- Hearing loss does not only affect older people. There is a study that showed that 12 million people aged from 18 to 54 have problems with hearing.
- A doctor cannot always tell if a person has hearing loss because most of them do not examine patients for hearing problems. Only about 13 percent of doctors perform that examination in routine physicals. Interestingly enough, doctor’s offices are mostly quiet, and based on all these conditions contributed together, it is impossible to detect a hearing loss accidentally or without precisely searching and checking for it.
Do not ignore the effects of hearing loss and the decreased life quality it brings with it. Every worker has the right to be compensated for problems with hearing caused by noises at the workplace.
[1] Susan L. Fenrich, BC-HIS, Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist, Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences
