As we find our way through the myriad of challenges imposed by COVID-19, Illinois faces an unresolved workers’ compensation issue – how to determine eligibility for first responders and essential workers who contract the coronavirus. Arising out of and in the course...
Rockford Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law Blog
Illinois homebuilder cited for exposing roofers to fall risk
Now that it is spring, it will become more common to see roofers at elevated heights on new construction or on established buildings needing roofing services. Obviously, roofing is an inherently dangerous occupation. State and federal work safety laws require Illinois...
New rule will make English ability irrelevant to disability determination
On April 27, a revised Social Security regulation will take effect that will remove a person's limited English proficiency (LEP) from consideration as a factor in disability claims for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)....
Stand Up: Grain worker injury risk in Illinois
Illinois has a prominent position within the Midwest farm belt, with high production of corn, soybeans, wheat, rye, oats and sorghum. With such high grain yields, farm and agricultural employees who work with grain are at risk of serious injury and even death from...
Social Security Administration may tighten disability evaluations
Since 1978, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has taken what you might say is a whole-person view of when someone is disabled from working for purposes of eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) - at...
2018 US data: Transportation mishaps highest cause of work deaths
On Dec. 17, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS), part of the Department of Labor, issued a news release about 2018 government data detailing aspects of on-the-job work fatalities that year. According to the agency, there were 5,250 work-related deaths in 2018 -...
When anxiety becomes disabling, SSDI or SSI may be a safety net
Anyone who has experienced anxiety that has risen to the level of a medical disorder knows that its not "just stress." Our society has come a long way in understanding and recognizing that anxiety can be a medical condition with severe symptoms and a...
Worker silicosis from cutting real and artificial stone countertops
Across America, fancy countertops are all the rage. Tragically, some of the workers who cut these slabs of granite, marble and engineered stone are getting silicosis, a lung disease from inhaling crystalline silica dust generated during the cutting, shaping, grinding...
Illinois winter raises risk of weather-related work injury and illness
Winter blew in with a vengeance in many parts of Illinois this year and with it, the danger of injuries related to extreme cold, ice, snow and wind to workers in jobs requiring outside work or driving. Even if a person's job duties do not require them to drive for...
Merger of companies complicates workers’ compensation liability
At our Rockford, Illinois, law firm, we represent injured or ill workers in the surrounding region whose impairments are work related in their claims for workers' compensation. It is a good idea to consult with an experienced workers' compensation lawyer as soon as...


