New research from theNational Employment Law Project found that very few employees who earn around$8 an hour filed a workers’ compensation claim and received benefits for awork-related injury.

In addition to theworkers’ comp findings, the study also shows that a large number of low-wageworkers experienced violations of federal regulations that govern overtime pay,minimum wage and employer retaliation.

The study, called Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers, foundthat 12 percent of the subjects experienced a serious work-related injuryduring the last three years. “We found that the workers’ compensation system isvery rarely used by our respondents,” the study said. “Only 8 percent of theworkers in our sample who experienced a serious injury during the previousthree years had filed a workers’ compensation claim for their most recentinjury. This finding clearly indicates that the workers’ compensation system isnot functioning as intended for front-line workers in the low-wage labormarket.”

If you need helpobtaining workers’ compensation, please contact the Raleigh Workers’Compensation Lawyers of Scudder & Hedrick, PLLC at 919-851-3311.