As an employee, you have an agreement with your employer that, in the case of an injury within the workplace, you will receive medical benefits, as well as wage replacement.
Naturally, when provided with these rights, you will give up the right to sue your employer for negligence in the workplace. All of the mentioned can be done and achieved via the Workers’ Compensation – a form of mandatory insurance for every employee.
Therefore, in today’s article, we’ll be talking about how to properly claim your workers’ compensation. Also, we’ll tell you why you should consider looking into workers’ compensation attorneys and eventually hiring one, as they can make the entire process much smoother.
- Report the Injury to Your Supervisor
It is important that you let your supervisor know about your injury as soon as possible because, while filing a claim, you still have to be injured, so to say. If you wait a couple of days before reporting the injury or filing the claim, your wound might heal, and you won’t be eligible for workers’ compensation.
In short, you must be able to prove that you’ve injured yourself within the workplace in order to receive workers’ compensation.
- Ensure that Your Claim is Properly Filed
In order to ensure that your claim is properly filled, we recommend you hire a workers’ compensation attorney so that he/she can make sure that everything is running smoothly and according to the laws in place.
Keep in mind that a claim has to be filled by both the employee and the employer. The latter will have to fill a First Report of Injury, precisely and in detail. Moreover, you will also have to ask your employer for your employee records.
- Create Your Own Journal and File
It is recommended that you keep a file and journal where you record everything that happens within the workplace – the hours and days that you’ve worked, as well as in detail descriptions of what you did exactly.
Your own file and journal can be compared with your employer’s records so that you can make sure that there are no inconsistencies that could lead to you not receiving any worker’s compensation.
- Seek Medical Attention
Naturally, as soon as you get injured, you should seek medical attention. This is not only to get your wound treated, but also to provide the insurance company with proof that the injury did occur as it happened.
The doctor will also file in a report that you can make a copy of. This report will come with all the details the insurance company needs, as well with time stamps that show exactly when the injury happened and when you were treated.
- Provide Proper Explanation as to How You Got Hurt
Obviously, when you are asked to explain how you got hurt, you must be completely honest and make sure that you don’t miss any facts that might be crucial to your claim.
Besides your explanation – even in a written form – you should have your own file and journal, as well as the hospital records to help you prove that everything happened as you explained it.
The Bottom Line
If you follow all these tips and properly prepare yourself before filing a workers’ compensation claim, you should not have any trouble with its approval.
Keep in mind to seek medical treatment as soon as possible and make sure that your supervisor is aware of your current condition.
