In the event that one of your employees needs to utilize workers compensation, you need to be prepared. One of the most important aspects in this event is having a hands on approach to the whole situation. As an employer you’re at risk of running up a large cost because of negligence. Here are some blunders you should avoid so that you save both you and your employees time and money.
Avoiding Mistakes
There are some employers that in the event of workers comp claim will not include their employee in the compensation process. They’ll only inform them of the minimum amount of what’s going on and this can be a big mistake. The employee should complete their own accident report and also have wage data submitted for their claim. Employees also need to submit their own description of the event.
Do not ignore major red flags in the event of a personal injury on the workplace; reactive legal measure might have to be taken, a firm like jebailylaw.com will be able to counteract any fraudulent claims. Look out for consistent statements, witnesses that can attest to what happened and the overall aptitude of the employee calling upon their workers comp rights.
Cohesive Planning
Let the employee that is injured know they are still part of the team and want to get them back in their line of work as fast as possible. Continue to include them in the company through emails, social media groups, and any get together or company parties. This is an uncertain time for them and they need to be reassured that they still have a viable position when they’re off of their injury.
If a claim isn’t reported it has the possibility of growing and there may be state fines to contend with if not reported. Employers that are going to be paying should think about whether or not they’re going pay out a small claim or send it to their insurance carrier.
Understanding the Details
Once a claim is in process and the necessary precautions and been met and set, keep up to date with what’s going on with the injury. For example you’ll want to know as much as possible from the doctor’s orders and what the exact diagnosis of injury was.
Knowing when they can return to work is an essential part to controlling the costs of injury and being able to recommended a light amount of work to get them back on the job. Know that terminating an employee during this time for other reasons could backfire on you.
Any reasoning must be backed by a clear disregard for something in the handbook or blatant rule breaking.
Overall, you’ll want this to go through as seamless as you can make it to ensure you have a repaired worker when their injury subsides. Staying professional and engaged with the situation will save everyone’s time and money without hindering performance of your company or management.
Thomas Simmons works as a compensation consultant and shares his knowledge online through his written articles. His articles appear on business, HR, news and industry related blogs.
