Pittsburgh Service and Hospitality Injury Lawyers
Experienced workers’ compensation lawyers for hotel and other hospitality workers
Hospitality work includes more than just the receptionist who reserves the room for you at a hotel. There’s the staff that moves beds, cleans the bedrooms and bathrooms, and carries luggage. If the hotel or motel has a restaurant, these workers prepare and carry hot food. Workers may be subject to sexual harassment and acts of violence. Pittsburgh has many motels, hotels, and other commercial lodgings. The people who work in these lodgings deserve the help they need when injuries occur.
At Carmody and Ging, Attorneys at Law, our Pittsburgh workers’ compensation lawyers understand how difficult service and hospitality work can be. We know that many workers live on a tight budget. Just one fall, one burn injury, or one pull in your back can mean you need to stop working while you get medical help for your injuries. Our Pittsburgh service and hospitality lawyers promptly file your work injury claim. We demand that your medical bills be paid while you’re receiving treatments and that you receive temporary disability pay until your health stabilizes. If you can’t work after seeing your doctors, we seek permanent disability benefits.
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What would you like to know?
What type of work do service and hospitality workers perform?
Service and hospitality work includes all the duties employees of a small motel or a large downtown hotel perform to satisfy their guests. Hospitality work includes:
- Housekeeping, including cleaning and maintaining the rooms
- Front-desk clerks, who check people into their rooms
- Bellhops, who take your luggage to the room
- Janitorial services
- Event planners
- Concierges
- Hotel managers
- Shuttle drivers
Service and hospitality can also include staff for amenities like restaurants, gyms, pools, or other features.
“Service” generally refers to the specific tasks the staff does while “hospitality” refers to the customer experience. Some of these tasks can be backbreaking, especially if they are done in multiple rooms repeatedly, such as removing and fitting sheets to the bed or cleaning the bathrooms.
What injuries do Pittsburgh service and hospitality workers experience?
The types of injuries Pittsburgh service and hospitality workers may sustain depend on the types of tasks for which they’re responsible. Some common injuries that hotel workers suffer include:
- Neck, shoulder, and other muscle and tissue injuries.
- Fractures, strains, and bone breaks.
- Sexual or physical assaults.
- Injuries while handling supply carts, which can be heavy to push and can tip over.
- Vacuuming injuries, including electric shock and back pain.
- Burn injuries, common if the hotel has a restaurant.
- Exposures to dangerous chemicals, such as cleaning agents.
- Slip and fall injuries due to slippery surfaces (such as when guests track in rain or snow from outside), objects on the floor (such as suitcases or even a guest’s dog), and loose wires or cords.
Other serious injuries that Pittsburgh service and hospitality workers may suffer include spinal cord damage, traumatic amputation, internal organ damage, and traumatic brain injuries.
The owners and managers of hotels and other quest quarters should have instructions for their workers on how to reduce the risk of injuries. For example, when cleaning bathrooms – keep the towels off the floor so you don’t have to bend, carry wet towels in several loads instead of one big load, switch arms when cleaning if you’re capable, and other safety strategies. Where possible, the employer should emphasize proper ergonomic strategies, too.
What are the requirements for filing a workers’ compensation claim in Pittsburgh?
There are a few basic requirements to file a Pittsburgh workers’ compensation claim if you’re injured while working in the service or hospitality industry. These requirements include:
- You must be an employee, not a contractor. Call our attorneys to be sure of your status.
- Your injury must occur while you’re on duty and working in the scope of your employment
There is no requirement to show the employer’s negligence caused your accident. In return, you cannot claim pain and suffering damages.
Medical expenses
Your employer’s insurance company (or the employer if they are self-insured) should pay for all the medical care you need that is related to your accident – even if you need medical help for the rest of your life. Normally, you start by using physicians on your employer’s preapproved list. Our Pittsburgh service and hospitality lawyers will explain when you might be able to use your own physicians instead of the company’s doctors.
Medical bills include ambulances, ER care, surgeries, hospital stays, doctor visits, physical therapy and other types of therapies, medications, and assistive devices. If the doctor is far away from where you live, you may be entitled to travel expenses to your healthcare provider.
Temporary disability benefits
If you qualify for workers’ compensation benefits in Pittsburgh, those benefits include temporary disability benefits. These benefits are partial wage loss benefits (about two-thirds of your wages before you were injured) that are paid while you are seeing your doctors and therapists to improve your health.
Temporary benefits stop once you reach the point of maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI is the time when no additional medical care is expected to improve your health.
Permanent disability benefits
Once you reach MMI, you are evaluated to determine if you have a permanent injury. Normally, your treating doctor will evaluate whether you have a permanent disability, the type of disability (such as an amputation or loss of hearing), and the severity of your disability. He/she will then assign an impairment rating to your permanent disability.
If Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law covers your permanent disability, then you are entitled to additional pay. The pay is scaled based on your impairment. For example, if your permanent disability is due to a loss of an arm, your full disability benefits will be two-thirds of your wages for 400 weeks. If your impairment rating is 80%, you will receive two-thirds of your wages for 320 weeks.
Your benefits may also be reduced if you receive Social Security disability benefits.
At Carmody and Ging, we fight to ensure you receive all the medical and wage benefits you deserve.
Wage benefits
Another adjustment that is made for service and hospitality workers in Pittsburgh is for workers who have a partial temporary or a partial permanent disability. Employees who are able to work, but not at the same level as their prior job, receive partial temporary benefits. Those who can work even though they have a permanent disability receive partial permanent benefits. Partial benefits (both temporary and permanent) mean that your benefit is proportionately reduced by your current wages.
Do you have a service and hospitality workers’ compensation lawyer near me?
Carmody and Ging is located at 801 Vinial Street in Pittsburgh, on the 3rd floor of the Deutschtown Center building. Our office is directly across the street from Penn Brewery. You should be able to park onsite. If you cannot travel by car, there’s a bus stop on Troy Hill Road, around the corner. Other alternatives include video conference interviews and meeting you at a hospital or healthcare facility if you’re not mobile.
Our attorneys understand what benefits you are entitled to claim. We anticipate the arguments insurance companies make to deny your claim. We’ll fight to obtain all the benefits you deserve.
Contact our Pittsburgh service and hospitality lawyers today
You help many other people on a daily basis. It’s only fair that you get the help you need when you’re hurt performing your hospitality and service duties. At Carmody and Ging, we fight to obtain the prompt payment you deserve. We negotiate long-term settlements when your initial medical treatments to improve your health are completed. To schedule a free consultation with an experienced Pittsburgh workers’ compensation lawyer, please call 412.281.2929 or complete our contact form. We take great pride in helping Allegheny County workers return to work – but only when they’re physically, mentally, and financially ready.
