If you get injured at work, you should instantly ask HR about the injury claim form related to worker’s compensation. Follow the directions and fill out the form. It is important to mention here that you shouldn’t delay doing this.
It is very normal for amoral employers to tell you to avoid or delay filing a personal injury claim related to worker’s compensation. If you give in and delay filing the claim, it can potentially haunt you later.
Here is everything else to know about getting injured at work.
What Happens After Your Injury?
If the insurance company, after they have received the worker’s compensation personal injury claim, is acting in good faith – they will get you to a doctor quickly. Subsequently, if the doctor is acting in good faith, they will do a good job examining you.
The medical provider will also provide you with a treatment plan without delay after diagnosing the injury.
You will be surprised to know that in most cases, people who have been injured at work report later that the doctor was dismissive of their injuries. They also report that the doctor was patronizing and avoided performing appropriate diagnostic measures, such as X-rays.
Now, at this point, if you sense any funny business, be prepared to call a lawyer.
Circumstances When You Should Call A Lawyer
You should call a lawyer right away if you experience one of the following things:
Your Employer is Being Difficult
You should call a lawyer if you sense that your employer is behaving badly. For instance, your employer might not be giving you the claim form, or they might be putting you under extreme pressure to make you avoid filing a claim.
The Insurance Company is Not Cooperating
You should also call a lawyer after you have gotten injured at work and you sense that the insurance company is behaving badly. For instance, the insurance company might be denying your claim outright. It is important to mention here that in most states, the insurance companies have three months to accept liability or deny it.
You Are Not Getting the Right Treatment
Also, call a lawyer if you sense that you aren’t getting the right treatment. The doctors are usually part of the worker’s compensation panel, and they might be instructed to dismiss the case or underplay the injury. If you detect that you aren’t getting the right treatment, it is in your best interest to call a lawyer.
The doctors can act quite shady. The truth is that the worker’s comp doctors can be very conservative – even awful – in most cases. The underlying reason is that these doctors often have a financial incentive that they get if they refuse treatment or testing.
Not to mention that the worker’s compensation doctors can also refuse to document the injury completely.
For instance, it’s a common practice to diagnose ligament tears as sprains. On that note, if you aren’t getting the care that you need to heal appropriately – the best thing that you can do is to call a compensation lawyer as soon as possible.
Why Call a Lawyer – Assessing the Benefits
Now, the biggest benefit that a lawyer can bring is that they will fight to get you the treatment that you need to heal. So, you might want to get in touch with the Southfield Personal Injury Lawyer if you reside in Southfield to get the right treatment and compensation.
Obviously, you shouldn’t be calling a worker’s comp lawyer if the injury that you sustained is really a minor one and you are more likely to recover within a few days. Moreover, the worker’s comp lawyer is unlikely to recover anything significant from tiny injuries.
When to Submit A Safety Complaint
There are a few crucial things to know about getting injured at work. If the injury was due to an unsafe condition or unsafe situation at work, we recommend submitting a safety complaint to your company’s HR department in writing.
If you have gotten injured at work due to something that is unsafe – you have a moral responsibility to report it. This way, you will actively try to fix it so that no one else gets hurt. If you do it, you take a proactive step towards protecting your colleagues and other people from the same experience.
Prepare for Retaliation
Now that you have been hurt and you are going to be out of work, it means that you are probably going to file a worker’s compensation claim. In this case, you will have a target on your back. It is very likely that your colleagues, employer, and HR – are all going to be upset with you.
At this point, you should do your best to protect yourself legally. The best way to do this is by submitting an appropriate complaint in writing to the most appropriate authority in the company. This will help you in a number of ways.
For instance, if they start to retaliate against you, you will have proof and a good legal argument that they are targeting you because you spoke up after an injury. You can exhibit that you are being targeted as a way of retaliation while they are trying to get rid of a problematic employee.
OSHA Violation Can Serve as an Add-On
If there is an OSHA violation that was involved in your personal injury or some other statutory safety violation, then you might have an add-on claim to your worker’s compensation claim. In other words, in case of any violation of OSHA, you can earn additional money.
This aspect is also known as a serious and willful claim. On top of that, if your employer retaliates against you for filing a worker’s compensation claim, you can have another add-on claim, which is also known as the 132A violation.
Now, this add-on isn’t as powerful as the normal employment retaliation laws – but it tends to exist within the worker’s compensation system, which is helpful as it can help facilitate the settlement.
The Takeaway
If you get injured at work, you should know that you have rights and that the law has your back. Sometimes, personal injuries at work can lead to disabilities. On that note, you should know that there is an entire segment about it, also known as disability discrimination. Based on that law, your employer cannot terminate you because of your disability. The best thing you can do is to call a lawyer and protect your rights.
