Why Would You Not Get Worker’s Comp?
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
For most people that are gainfully employed at a full-time job, with a monthly salary, one of the biggest advantages of being in these types of professions are the personal and professional security. Part-time jobs, for example, have very few perks and little in the way of job security. Freelancers, on the other hand, can work their own hours and have more say about the type of work they take on, but at the cost of an unstable monthly income, and no guarantee of continued financial support.However, with a full-time, salaried job, many people, especially in trade professions, such as working in factories or in construction, enjoy many benefits. One of these benefits often involves worker’s compensation, which is when the company that is employing a person agrees to finance any medical costs that may be required as a result of injuries sustained while on the job.
But as straightforward as this idea may seem, sometimes, even when it may seem clear to you that received an injury while fulfilling your responsibility to your company, that company refuses to actually pay the compensation. In such instances, you may find that you’ll have to go to court with a workers comp lawyer to get the compensation you deserve.
But why would this happen? In what instances would getting something you are due be refused by the company you did the work for? There are certain situations that may call the situation into doubt, that can help you to understand the employer’s point of view.
You Filed For Compensation After No Longer Working At The Company
For many employers, this is an understandable big, red flag, even when the circumstances may be completely legitimate. It’s normal procedure for an employee to file for workers compensation as quickly as possible after an incident occurs. For people to wait some time before filing the claim—or worse yet, wait until after they have resigned or been laid off, is very unusual. To an insurance company, this usually looks more like a claim made in an attempt to get revenge on the company rather than a legitimate claim for treatment.
Sometimes, there may be unethical reasons at play. Companies realize that insurance companies take a skeptical view of files claimed after employment has ceased, so there may be some instances where they lay off employees quickly in order to create this questionable situation. Even then, however, it’s unusual for them to do so within hours or days after an injury occurs, so it’s best not to delay your claim if it happens.
Medical Report Inconsistencies
This situation might be a simple matter of honest mistakes or forgetfulness, but in a legal interpretation sense, it’s a big problem. If you get into an accident, a report will be filed by your company based on your assessment and their assessment of what happened. At some point, you will be examined by your own doctors to get a diagnosis and treatment.
If you tell your doctor one thing about the injury and situation, and this differs a lot from what you and your company initially reported, this could be another reason to refuse a claim. This is especially true in situations where the subsequent report from your doctor cites many more injuries and is asking for a much higher claim than what was initially reported. Some may decide that this is an attempt to exaggerate initial accident claims in order to get a larger sum.
There Are No Witnesses
This can be quite problematic, even when the injury is completely legitimate. It’s one thing if you are involved in a mishap, and others see it occur, or are even involved and injured themselves. In these unfortunate situations, things are straightforward and simple to process. In some cases, it’s still relatively simple if you are on the job, attend to some work on your own for a few minutes, and then get injured, only to have others come in moments or minutes later to see you’ve been hurt while working.
On the other hand, if you sustain an injury while no one is around, and then report that injury to management some time later, attempting to get compensation, this can be a big problem. Injuries with no witnesses, especially reported much later, can easily be interpreted as attempts to exploit the system.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you are attempting to take advantage of the good will and financial responsibility your company may have. But if a company decides to deny workers comp to you, you’ll need the help of a workers comp lawyer to fight this and get the compensation that is due. If this is your situation, we can help.