It used to primarily be that if you had a job that was your only job.  You’d work 9 to 5 and go home to your life.  That’s certainly not how things are now. We are in the era of grinding and it’s not uncommon for people to have two or even three jobs.

If you are injured while working in Illinois and have more than one job, that could be a huge factor in your case.   Your payments for time off work and any settlement are based on what your wages are.  So if you have two jobs, you’ll want to make sure that your pay from both is included. That’s not automatic and there are other things you really need to know if you are in that situation. Here are some big ones:

1. Let’s say you primarily work at FedEx, but have a part time job tending bar. If you get hurt at FedEx and want your second job income to be included in your work comp claim, you have to show that FedEx was aware of that other job. If they weren’t, those wages won’t get included nor would they if they told you that you can’t have a second job and you did it any way.

2. The same would be true if you were hurt on your part time job.

3. If they are aware of your other job then both wages should be calculated in paying your time off work (temporary total disability benefits or TTD).

4. If you are hurt on job #1, but can work job #2, your TTD payments would only be based on your inability to work job #1, but both wages would be used in calculating your settlement rate.

5. If you are hurt on job #1 but can still do that job, but not job #2, you should get partial TTD payments for your loss from that job.

6. If you are hurt on job #1 and can work only job #2, you need to be very sure that the job you can work won’t make your injury worse. If it does then it could screw up your work comp claim.  Let’s say your main job is in a factory and you can’t work that job because it requires lifting over 20 pounds.  If your second job is at a grocery store and they say you won’t have to lift more than 20 pounds, if your injury gets worse from the lifting you can do, it will screw things up. So in most cases I’d suggest you only work a really sedentary job if you have serious restrictions.

7. When it comes to settlement time, it’s important to consider how your injury will affect both jobs and your ability to work in the future. Failure to do this correctly could cost you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

These are some of the main things to consider, but there are others as well. If you’d like to speak with an experienced attorney for free, please contact us any time at 312-346-5320. We cover all of Illinois.