It is not enough for employers to provide workers' compensation insurance; they have other responsibilities beyond the provision of the coverage. Here are some of your employer's responsibilities as far as workers' compensation is concerned:
Providing Emergency Medical Care
Most accidental injuries are easier to manage with early intervention. Early medical intervention can stop blood loss, prevent secondary infections or even save limbs. As an injury victim, you are expected to mitigate your damages by getting medical help as soon as possible, and your employer has the responsibility of providing this help.
Completing an Injury Report
Your employer is expected to take your statement, interview witnesses, and examine the accident scene and use the information to prepare an accident report. The accident report has to main uses; the information can be used to prevent future injuries and it is also helpful in processing the workers' compensation claim.
Advising Employees on Their Legal Rights
Your employer also has the responsibility of advising you on your legal rights after an injury at the workplace. For example, some workers are reluctant about filing workers' compensation claims in the workplace because they fear being victimized by their bosses. Your employer should advise you on your right to file a worker's compensation claim without fear of victimization.
Avoiding Retaliatory Measures
Employees should be free to pursue workers' compensation claims without retaliation from their employers. In fact, no one should be victimized as far as workers' compensation claims are concerned. The main issue should be to verify the injury and confirm that it occurred in the workplace so that the employee can receive their benefits.
Complying With Requests for Further Information
When your workers' compensation claim is being processed, one of the interested parties may notice a gap in your documents and request for further information. For example, the workers' compensation insurance carrier or your workers' compensation attorney may notice that the injury report is deficient in details, and request for further information. It is your employer's responsibility to provide this information, even if it casts them in a bad light.
Providing Employees with Claim Forms
Lastly, it is also your employer's responsibility to provide you with the forms that you will use to seek workers' compensation benefits. In fact, there is a strict and short deadline within which the employer should provide these forms.
Your employer's actions may determine whether your worker's compensation claim progresses smoothly. Talk to your workers' compensation lawyer if you think that your employer is shirking their responsibilities. Contact a firm, like Fitzpatrick, Skemp & Associates LLC, for more.
Share26 November 2017
