Employee Responsibility For Workers' Compensation
Posted on: 23 October 2019
Both employers and employees have a role to play to ensure that employees benefit from workers' compensation. As an employee, here are some of the roles and responsibilities expected of you.
Obeying Rules and Regulations
You have the responsibility to familiarize yourself with all applicable rules and regulations and follow them to the letter. This includes not only workers' compensation rules and regulations, but also your employer's workplace rules and regulations. In fact, you can easily miss out on your workers' compensation benefits if you get injured while breaking company regulations. For example, workers' compensation might reject your claim if you were injured while smoking at work, and your employer forbids smoking at work.
Getting Prompt Medical Care
If you do get injured at work, you should seek prompt medical care even if your injury seems minor to you. Let the medical professionals determine the extent of your injury. Getting prompt medical care reduces the risk of medical complications. Also, prompt medical care increases your chances of getting back to work as soon as possible, which is beneficial to all parties, including your employer and workers' compensation provider.
Reporting Injury
You have the responsibility of reporting all injuries you may incur at work or in the line of duty, and your employer has the responsibility of generating an injury report. The insurer can even reject your claim if you delay the report. State laws determine how long you have to report your injury. The duration can range from as little as four days to three months, depending on your state. To be on the safe side, report your injury as soon as you are able to do so.
Cooperating
You are expected to cooperate with all the parties involved in the workers' compensation program. This includes your employer, medical doctors, workers' compensation insurer, and any other relevant party. For example, you should present necessary documents (such as medical records) when required, and you should consult doctors within your employer's network if that is the rule.
Maintaining Records
Lastly, you also have the responsibility of keeping all records related to your injury. Your medical records, appointments with doctors, correspondence with doctors, or employer; all these things should be available whenever they are needed. Failure to produce a report when needed can easily delay your claim if you don't have them at hand.
Workers' compensation claims are usually straightforward, but they can also be complicated depending on the circumstances of the injury. Consult a workers' compensation lawyer like those at the Law Offices Of Harry G Lasser if you are having complications with your claim.
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