Warning! If your employer says this…. watch out! – There are things that employers tell injured workers, who may think it’s not a big deal depending on the situation, but they’re actually big red flags, because it usually means something weird is going on and the employers are not taking their legal obligations under work injuries seriously.
Warning! If your employer says this…. watch out!
“Don’t report this.”
If you have an accident your supervisor could say that you shouldn’t report your injury because you both could lose your bonuses, or because the company could lose the contract. You could even be told that you could lose your job if you report it to the insurance company. All of that is intimidation on the employer’s part to try to get the injured worker not to report the injury.
The injury has to be reported because it’s not something that’s supposed to be taken care of through other channels. That’s why employers in Colorado carry Workers’ Compensation insurance, to make sure that if someone is injured on the job, they’re taken care of.
“Go to you own Doctor.”
Your personal doctor will not treat you if you say your injury is work related, so if you have a small injury that you feel will go away, and decide not to report it and instead go to your personal doctor and lie about your injury being work related, you might have a big problem later on if that injury which you thought was minor becomes something big.
If they start talking about surgery and lost time you will realize that now you really need to report it, and then you would be asked why where you lying before, and why should they believe you now, so you would be in a very bad position.
“We will take care of the bills.”
Your employer might tell you that you don’t have to report the injury, that you should just go to the clinic and they will take care of the bills. That only works until the bills get to be a certain amount, typically over $1,000 and then suddenly the employers’ support stops.
If you report it after that your employer might say that they didn’t know anything about the injury, or that it was an off-the-job injury and that’s why it was treated elsewhere, and you would be in a bad situation.
“It’s too late to report your injury.”
If you report your injury your supervisor might tell you that there’s a sign saying that you have to give written notice of your injury within 4 days, and since you didn’t do that it’s too late.
It’s never too late to report injuries, it doesn’t matter if 4 days have passed, you still report your injury. We’ve never had a client lose the case or lose benefits because they didn’t give written notice within 4 days, so that’s a meaningless time frame.
“Wait. Hold on. Give it time.”I keep reporting my injury, but they keep putting me off.
They might tell you that they’re still waiting to get information. If you’ve already waited 48 business hours and they keep putting you off, that’s a red flag.
You should be contacted within a couple of days by the insurance carrier or by your employer and they should give you a list of at least 4 providers in most cases, so you can choose where you want to go.
How should I report my injury?
We recommend that you report your injury in such a way that they can’t deny that you complained of a work injury, for example, don’t say your back hurts, say that your back hurts because you were lifting boxes at work, and make sure that you report it by text message, email, or video, so that they can’t deny that you reported it.
We’re here to help
Work injuries can be very complicated, so if you or your loved ones have been injured on the job in Colorado, we can help you. Call or text us at 970-356-98-98, all of our consultations are free and confidential.
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