Can I Recover Lost Wages If My Shoulder Injury Keeps Me From Working?

A serious shoulder injury can do more than just make it hard to lift your arm. For many people in Schaumburg and nearby areas, shoulder health is closely tied to their ability to work. Construction workers, warehouse staff, mechanics, delivery drivers, nurses, tradespeople, office workers, restaurant staff, and others may find that a shoulder injury keeps them from doing key parts of their jobs. Even if your job does not require heavy lifting, you might struggle with typing, driving, reaching, carrying files, sitting for long periods, or doing repetitive tasks after hurting your shoulder. If someone else’s negligence caused your injury, lost wages can become a major part of your personal injury claim.

I focus on how an injury affects my client’s finances, not just the medical bills from the accident. If a shoulder injury from a car crash, truck accident, fall, or other negligent act keeps someone from working, Illinois law may allow recovery of both past and, if supported by evidence, future lost earnings. The Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions recognize lost earnings, salaries, benefits, and profits as possible damages when the evidence supports it. The key is not just whether the shoulder hurts, but how the injury impacts the person’s ability to work and ties that financial loss to the accident.

Shoulder Injuries Can Have A Major Effect On Employment

Shoulder injuries can be deceptively disabling. Someone may still be able to walk, drive short distances, or perform basic daily activities while being unable to perform the physical requirements of a job. This distinction becomes very important when an insurance company argues that an injured person looks capable of working simply because that person is not bedridden.

Common accident-related shoulder injuries include rotator cuff tears, labral tears, SLAP tears, fractures, dislocations, impingement, tendon injuries, nerve damage, and aggravation of degenerative conditions. Some injuries respond to conservative treatment, while others require injections, extensive physical therapy, arthroscopic surgery, rotator cuff repair, or other surgical treatment. Recovery may take months, particularly when the person’s work requires repetitive reaching, lifting, pulling, pushing, or overhead activity.

A shoulder injury can also create work restrictions even when a doctor does not completely remove someone from employment. A physician might limit lifting to five or ten pounds, prohibit overhead work, restrict repetitive movement, or require the injured person to avoid use of one arm. For someone whose occupation depends on physical labor, those restrictions can effectively make regular employment impossible.

Lost Wages Can Be Part Of An Illinois Personal Injury Claim

Lost wages are an economic damage arising from the financial consequences of an injury. Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction 30.07 addresses the value of lost time, earnings, profits, salaries, and benefits, as well as earnings that are reasonably certain to be lost in the future when supported by the evidence.

This means I may pursue more than the paychecks already missed between the accident and the date of settlement or trial. Depending on the severity of the shoulder injury, I may also examine whether the person will continue losing income in the future.

For example, imagine a Schaumburg warehouse worker tears a rotator cuff in an accident and cannot lift more than ten pounds for several months. If the employer does not have light-duty work and the doctor documents these limits, missing twelve weeks of work can be included in the damages claim.

The same principle can apply to hourly employees, salaried workers, people receiving commissions, tipped employees, business owners, independent contractors, and other workers, although the evidence required to establish the loss may differ significantly.

Medical Documentation Can Be Critical To A Lost Wage Claim

An insurance company rarely accepts a substantial wage-loss claim simply because an injured person says working became painful. I generally want medical documentation connecting the shoulder injury to specific restrictions.

Records can show that a physician ordered the person to remain off work, prohibited lifting, limited use of an injured arm, recommended reduced hours, or imposed other restrictions. These records create a medical basis for explaining why the loss of employment income occurred.

This becomes especially important when a shoulder injury lasts for months. Insurance carriers may argue that a person could have returned to work sooner, performed modified duties, or taken another position. Consistent medical documentation can help show that the restrictions were legitimate consequences of the injury rather than a personal decision to remain away from work.

I also examine whether the employer actually had modified duty available. An insurance company may argue that the injured person could have performed “light duty,” but that argument means little when no such position existed or when the available position violated the treating physician’s restrictions.

How I May Document Lost Earnings

A strong wage-loss claim usually needs records showing what the person earned before the accident and how their income changed after.

Depending on the circumstances, useful evidence may include pay stubs, tax returns, W-2 forms, 1099 forms, payroll records, employment attendance records, commission statements, employer verification, work schedules, disability paperwork, and documentation of bonuses or overtime.

If an employee regularly worked overtime before the accident, I may examine whether that lost overtime can be established through payroll history. If income fluctuated because of commissions or seasonal work, several years of earnings records may be useful in demonstrating a reasonable earnings pattern.

Self-employed people often require additional analysis because income does not always appear as a predictable weekly paycheck. Business records, contracts, invoices, tax documents, cancelled appointments, lost projects, and historical earnings may become important evidence.

I May Seek More Than Missed Paychecks

The financial harm caused by a shoulder injury does not always end when someone eventually returns to work. A severe injury may permanently reduce earning capacity.

Consider a union tradesperson who earns a substantial income performing physical labor but can no longer repeatedly lift overhead after shoulder surgery. That person may eventually return to employment, but perhaps only in a lower-paying occupation or restricted position. The resulting financial loss may extend for years.

Future earning-loss claims must be supported rather than based on speculation. Medical testimony regarding permanent restrictions may be important. Employment history, education, age, occupation, transferable skills, anticipated career progression, and future wage opportunities may also become relevant.

In substantial cases, vocational or economic evidence may be used to assess how permanent physical limitations affect the person’s ability to earn income over the remainder of a working career.

Using Sick Time Or PTO Does Not Necessarily Mean There Was No Loss

One issue that frequently causes confusion is what happens when an employee uses accumulated sick leave or paid time off after an accident.

An insurance carrier may attempt to characterize the employee as having suffered no wage loss because regular paychecks continued temporarily. That does not necessarily tell the entire story. The Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions recognize recovery for lost time in appropriate circumstances, and the commentary accompanying Instruction 30.07 discusses Illinois authority permitting recovery for lost time even where an injured person continued receiving regular wages during incapacity.

An employee who is forced to consume weeks of accumulated sick leave because of someone else’s negligence has used a valuable employment benefit. I therefore examine the entire employment loss rather than merely asking whether the employee’s bank account received a paycheck during the first several weeks following the accident.

Shoulder Surgery Can Significantly Increase Time Away From Work

Surgery can create a second period of substantial wage loss even when someone initially attempted to continue working.

A person may first try physical therapy, medication, injections, and activity modification. When conservative care does not resolve the problem, an orthopedic surgeon may eventually recommend surgery. The employee may then face another extended period away from work.

After a rotator cuff repair or labral procedure, the arm may initially be immobilized. Rehabilitation can continue for months, and strengthening usually progresses gradually. Returning to heavy physical work may occur considerably later than returning to sedentary duties.

I therefore do not evaluate wage loss based only on the first few days or weeks after an accident. I look at the entire treatment history and whether future treatment will create additional periods during which employment becomes impossible or substantially restricted.

The Insurance Company May Challenge The Connection Between The Accident And Lost Income

Insurance companies commonly attack shoulder injury claims from several directions. They may argue that imaging shows degenerative changes, that the shoulder problem existed before the accident, that the person returned to work briefly, that restrictions were unnecessary, or that another type of employment could have been performed.

A preexisting shoulder problem does not automatically eliminate a claim. An accident may worsen an existing condition, turn a manageable problem into a disabling one, or create new structural damage. The medical history becomes particularly important in distinguishing the person’s condition before and after the collision.

Insurers may also scrutinize social media, employment records, gaps in medical treatment, and statements made to adjusters. That is one reason I treat the medical and employment portions of a shoulder injury case as connected pieces of the same claim.

Comparative Fault Can Affect The Amount Recovered

Illinois uses a modified comparative-fault system. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, a plaintiff whose contributory fault is more than 50 percent of the proximate cause of the injury is barred from recovery. If the plaintiff is 50 percent or less at fault, damages are reduced according to the percentage of fault attributed to that person.

That rule applies to economic losses such as lost earnings as part of the overall damages calculation. For example, if total recoverable damages included substantial medical expenses, lost wages, and other losses but the injured person was found 20 percent responsible for the accident, the final award would generally be reduced by that percentage.

Insurance companies understand this rule and often attempt to shift as much responsibility as possible onto the injured person. Establishing liability is therefore directly connected to how much compensation may ultimately be recovered.

Waiting Too Long Can Put A Claim At Risk

Illinois generally requires an action for personal injury damages to be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrues under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, although exceptions and different deadlines can apply depending on the defendant and circumstances.

I do not recommend treating that two-year period as a reason to delay. Lost wage claims often depend on employment records, medical restrictions, payroll information, witness testimony, and proof of historical earnings. Those records are usually easier to obtain and organize while the events are relatively recent.

The financial effects of a shoulder injury can also evolve. Someone may initially expect to miss two weeks of work and later discover that surgery will prevent a return to full duties for several months. Careful documentation throughout treatment can help establish the true economic effect of the injury.

Call SJ Injury Law About A Shoulder Injury And Lost Wage Claim

A shoulder injury can affect nearly every aspect of employment, particularly when a job requires lifting, reaching, driving, carrying, pushing, pulling, repetitive arm movement, or physical labor. When another person’s negligence causes that injury, I look beyond the immediate medical bills. I examine missed wages, lost overtime, depleted employment benefits, reduced hours, future work restrictions, and whether the injury could permanently reduce the client’s earning capacity.

At SJ INJURY LAW, I represent people injured in car accidents, truck collisions, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle crashes, premises liability incidents, and other accidents throughout Schaumburg and the surrounding communities. I can investigate the accident, obtain the employment and medical documentation necessary to establish the claim, address insurance-company attempts to minimize the shoulder injury, and pursue compensation for both the physical and financial consequences of the accident.

If a shoulder injury is preventing you from working or threatening your ability to earn the same income in the future, call our Schaumburg auto collision attorney at SJ INJURY LAW by calling (847) 434-3555 to receive your free consultation. I serve injured clients in Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Wheeling, Park Ridge, Rosemont, Glenview, Chicago, and throughout Illinois. The sooner I can examine the medical restrictions, employment history, and circumstances of the accident, the better positioned I am to determine the full value of the wage-related losses caused by the injury.