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Common Ways Employers Step on Your Rights During a Workers’ Comp Claim

May 14, 2024 | Workers' Compensation

As an employee, you should be able to rely on your place of employment to do what is right for you and protect your rights. This is especially important when it comes to workers’ compensation, which provides benefits for injured employees regardless of who is at fault for their injuries. Unfortunately, employers don’t always do the right thing. When they interfere with your workers’ comp benefits or try to deny you the right to access medical treatment, you may need to turn to the team at Pisegna & Zimmerman. Our Southern California workers’ comp lawyers can help you demand what you deserve. With Zoom-ready attorneys and DocuSign document management, you can meet with us wherever you are. Call us at 818-888-8888 to get started.

California is known for being one of the most—if not the most—worker-friendly states in the country. Workplace injuries must be reported to the Division of Workers’ Compensation for appropriate documentation and benefit management. Employers may try to dodge accountability to keep their insurance rates low or even prevent their workers’ comp coverage from being dropped if their injury rates are unacceptable.

Failure to Report

This is one of the most straightforward ways employers wrong their employees after an injury. Their most basic obligation at this point is to report the injury to the insurance company and the Division of Workers’ Compensation. They may fail to do so or intentionally make the reporting process unnecessarily difficult for employees to avoid damaging their numbers. If they do this for long enough, employees may completely lose the right to seek compensation.

Retaliation After a Claim

Employees should be able to report a workplace injury without worrying about their employer retaliating against them. After all, a workers’ comp claim isn’t putting blame on the employer or anyone else—it’s just an injury report that allows the employee to receive benefits. Still, many employers take obvious retaliatory action against employees, both those who are injured and those who provide eyewitness testimony of a coworkers’ injury. They may terminate an injured employee, demote them, cut their hours significantly, or subject them to hostile treatment in the workplace. They may isolate them from coworkers, force them into work tasks that are unpleasant or outside the scope of their work, or try to prevent their future career growth.

In case it isn’t already obvious, this is illegal. Companies cannot retaliate against employees for engaging in protected activities, which includes reporting an injury.

Denial or Delay of Compensation

Another tactic you may see after an injury report is a denial or delay of benefits. Note that this doesn’t interfere with an employee’s rights if the employer or insurance company has legitimate reason to believe that the claim may be fraudulent. However, many employers use this tactic to scare employees into withdrawing their claim because they don’t want their employer to think badly of them. If you provide the information they ask for and are honest throughout the process, you should not have to jump through hoop after hoop to get the benefits you are legally entitled to. This is where it can be extremely helpful to have a workers’ compensation attorney; they can represent you during appeals, hold your employer accountable for unreasonable delays, and fight for the compensation you are due.

Refusal to Accommodate Limitations

If you are cleared to return to work but have to follow certain limitations, your employer could be violating your rights if they refuse to honor those limitations. Forcing you to do more than you are physically capable of doing can cause you to re-injure yourself or delay your healing. It is crucial that you follow your doctor’s orders and escalate the situation if your employer will not accommodate you.

Pushing for an Early Return to Work

You should not return to work until your doctor clears you to do so. If your employer threatens you with termination or other disciplinary actions while you are following your doctor’s orders, it’s time to talk to a workers’ comp lawyer in Southern California.

Assert Your Rights With the Team at Pisegna & Zimmerman

When you hit roadblocks during your workers’ comp claim, the team of Southern California workers’ comp attorneys at Pisegna & Zimmerman is here for you. Take the first step now by calling us at 818-888-8888 or getting in touch online. With Zoom meetings and DocuSign document management, you don’t even have to leave home to explore your legal options.