Injury can happen anytime at work, and you have the right to seek medical treatment once it happens. It’s essential to be aware of the necessary steps on how to get the care you need. Asking for compensation isn’t as simple as walking up to your employer because they must cover your injury from the start. To get the maximum benefits, follow these tips:
1. Reach Out To The Company HR
When you get injured, it’s essential to let the human resource department know about your injury and ask about the workers’ compensation insurance. They must also be notified about your condition for transparency and accountability. You must obtain the information before you head to your healthcare providers’ office because you’ll be giving the name to them.
2. Know When You Should Seek Treatment
The right time to seek medical attention is always what you think of when you only have a minor injury. You could never know if it’ll have a lasting effect on your body, which is why you should seek a medical opinion. Head over to your medical care provider when symptoms are related to your responsibilities in the workplace.
Seeking medical treatment from Injured Call Today and others will help you recover. You can also find various experienced specialists who have treated people who were injured at work in the past. If you decide to do it later, an underlying injury may progress without you knowing.
Another reason is it’ll likely prevent your employer from claiming you didn’t get injured at work. It’s essential to have your injury looked at by a doctor so you’ll be aware of how bad it is.
3. Fill Out An Injury Report
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates employers to allow the injured employee to file an injury report. It’s the right of the employee to file a report when you want compensation for your workplace injuries. Even if your employer insists it’s not necessary, they’re obligated to keep employee histories on file. Just ensure you get a copy of the report as well.
There might be cases when the employer will deny your report or claim, so you must also follow the proper reporting procedure on injuries related to your workplace. Filing a claim is similar to filing an insurance claim. Ensure your employer offers you a form to fill out because they won’t be obligated to acknowledge your claim unless you can complete the form.
4. Be Honest With Your Doctor
Seeking medical attention means you need to be completely honest with what you feel. Suppose you have an underlying condition, exaggerating or downplaying your injury won’t get you the treatment you need. If the insurance company finds out, it’ll jeopardize your claim, and you won’t get the right amount of compensation.
Making guesses about your condition is also a wrong move because you need accurate details to inform the insurance company. Hence, be honest with the symptoms as well as the aftereffects you’re feeling so you can be treated properly.
5. Choose A Reputable Physician
In some cases, your employer will recommend a doctor for you to see after an injury. You have the choice to seek the preferred healthcare professional, but know you also have the right to choose the physician you want.
If you’re a federal employee, the Federal Employee’s Compensation Act (FECA) partially allows you to select your doctor. If you want to seek out a chiropractor, understand that FECA restricts seeing the specialist. State law applies to you if you’re not a federal employee.
You can also choose your preferred company as you seek medical attention. Your utmost right to refuse a company representative or even the company nurse to come along with you during your visit to the doctor is your right. The employer may want to protect their side, but they can’t retaliate against you for refusing their help.
6. Look For The Best Place To Have Treatment
If your injury requires immediate attention, head straight to the emergency room. Any injury you acquire from work must adhere to the state rules when you opt for treatment. Remember that the state still has a say as to whom you should see for your work-related injury. Some may even require you to follow your employer or insurer’s decision on who to see.
In other cases, complex state rules may need you to seek medical help from the specific doctor you named before the accident. That means you need to have health insurance to name your preferred physician. In other states, you can only see the employer’s preferred doctor if the insurance company has that arrangement with your employer for the visit.
7. Find Out The Truth
Suppose your employer is trying to stop you from going to the doctor or can’t even refer you to a preferred physician, chances are they don’t carry workers’ compensation insurance. Employers are required by the law to have this insurance, but there are reasons why your employer doesn’t carry it. Nevertheless, you need to find out if your employer can compensate you or not.
Depending on the state you’re in, penalties can vary, and your employer could pay a hefty fine. Some states might not only demand an organization to pay an expensive penalty for not having this insurance type, but the company can also go to prison.
You can seek an experienced injury lawyer to help you get medical treatment and workers’ compensation if your employer doesn’t have the insurance. It’s the same when you’re loved one is the person who suffers from the injury.
Conclusion
As a taxpayer with a stable job, you have the right to seek medical treatment if you got injured at work. It can be a sudden slip or fall from an accident or a pain on your wrist that has been progressing when you’re overworked. It’d help you to be familiar with your state laws regarding workers’ compensation if you get into a work-related accident. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you seek your options after a workplace injury.
