Injured on the job?
Workers’ compensation laws vary state to state, and an employee that has been injured acting alone is faced with the challenge of navigating a complicated and confusing system. Generally, an employer owes three duties to an injured worker. First, the employer should provide medical treatment. Second, if the injury results in physical restrictions while treatment in ongoing, the employer must accommodate the restrictions, or pay the injured worker a weekly benefit known as temporary total disability. Finally, after the injured worker has completed medical treatment, the employer must compensate the worker for any permanent disability.
If you receive a work-related injury, there are several things that you should do to protect your legal rights:
- Report the injury as soon as it occurs. If your employer has a process for reporting injuries, be sure to follow it. If there is no specific reporting process, report the injury to your immediate supervisor, and be sure to ask if there is any other person to which you should provide any information regarding the injury. Ask to have your report of injury reduced to written form. Be sure to provide as much information as possible;
- Request medical treatment. If you fail to request medical treatment from your employer and seek it out on your own, you may responsible for the medical bills;
- If, for any reason, you feel uncomfortable with how your employer is dealing with your injury, seek the advice of an attorney.
If you have received a work-related injury, do not hesitate to call attorney Russ Purvis at Tieman, Spencer & Hicks, LLC, for a free consultation.
The links below provide useful information relating to Missouri and Kansas workers’ compensation laws.
Missouri: http://labor.mo.gov/DWC/
