Many of the folks I speak with about work injury claims are, quite reasonably, concerned about their jobs. Steady, well-paying jobs are hard to find and reporting an on-the-job injury could have negative consequences for your employment.
If you experience a relatively minor injury, you should not have much of a problem – minor muscle strains or bruises usually respond to ice and a day or two of rest, and then you can return to work without any issues. In most of these cases, the posted panel doc’s treatment will be sufficient. Our experience has been that employers recognize that bumps and bruises are part of almost any job and your employment will not be at risk if you access the posted panel doctor and the workers’ compensation system.
Problems often occur when your injury is more than a minor strain. Or perhaps you have had a series of minor and not so minor bumps and bruises that have resulted in several visits to the workers’ compensation clinic and more than a few days of missed work. In cases where your employer decides that you are injury prone or that your minor injury really isn’t so minor, your job may be in jeopardy. [Read more…] about Seriously Injured Workers Likely to be Fired