What Happens If I Am Laid Off or Fired Later on a Work Injury?

Your piece of work injury will put y'all out of commission for a while, leaving you with an abundance of questions. What happens to my chore if I'm not at that place to work? How will I provide an income for myself and my family until I am well plenty to piece of work again? Can I be fired considering of my injury?

Thankfully, laws exist to protect you and your money when you endure from a piece of work injury. Y'all have probably heard about workers' compensation, medical leave and other similar programs, but how do they apply to your specific situation? How much job protection practice these benefits offer when you've been hurt? Will they preclude your dominate from giving your job to someone else instead of waiting for you lot to get better?

This article volition provide yous with disquisitional knowledge about work injuries and will convalesce some of your fears regarding workers' compensation. By arming yourself with this knowledge, you tin feel more confident every bit y'all face the challenges of your work injury.

What Is Workers' Compensation?

Workers' bounty provides injured employees with bounty, which might include medical benefits, missed wages, or other expenses accrued by your specific injury. When a worker is injured severely enough to miss work for a long flow of time, they cannot receive wages.

Without workers' compensation, this loss of income — in addition to all the medical bills accrued — could add significant stress to the injured worker'southward life and family unit. The Pennsylvania Workers' Bounty Human activity exists as a rubber net for workers who have been injured at work. Employees are eligible for workers' compensation at the start of their employment, every bit soon as they need treatment for a piece of work-related injury. Workers' compensation benefits are calculated based on your average weekly wage. You typically volition receive up to two-thirds of your weekly income.

If you lot become hurt on the job, written report your injury as soon as possible. Schedule an appointment with a doc to document your symptoms and to tape the details of your blow. About importantly, speak with a workers' compensation attorney to ensure you will receive off-white benefits for your blow.

Can Filing a Workers' Compensation Claim Go Me Fired?

You may be concerned that if yous file a workers' bounty merits your employer may retaliate and burn you. Although it would be naive to think that this has never happened, in full general employers understand that doing then only increases their financial exposure. Not only could an improper termination lead to prolonged workers' compensation payments, just it would open up up the employer to a civil lawsuit and castigating damages.

Employers in Pennsylvania cannot legally retaliate against employees who do their right to merits benefits for an injury they received while working. A workers' compensation attorney can explain how to protect yourself against this kind of retaliation.

Tin an Employee Be Laid Off While on Workers' Compensation?

You accept applied and been accepted for workers' compensation, and y'all are recuperating at home or in the hospital. You are receiving all the benefits and compensation yous should be. At this point in the process, you may be concerned about how long will you employer hold your job? Can you exist replaced? Can you be fired while out on workers' compensation? The short answer is that Pennsylvania is an "at-volition" employment state, pregnant that an employer can terminate the employment relationship at any fourth dimension except for specific reasons (discrimination, such every bit age, race, religion, sexual orientation; retaliation; whistleblowing). Depending on the size of your employer, you may also have federally granted FMLA benefits which will protect your job for up to 12 weeks. The police recognizes, however, that as a business organization your employer needs to fill positions with qualified individuals to remain productive and therefore there is no right or guarantee that you will get your old job dorsum later on an injury. If y'all are a member of a spousal relationship y'all may have additional rights and should consult with your representative.

Employers cannot fire an employee specifically for being injured and filing a workers' comp claim.

Your employer still has the right to include you in any layoffs or rounds of systematic downsizing. Even if y'all have been hurt on the job, y'all practice not suddenly fall under an extra layer of protection from termination.

What Happens If You Become Back to Work With Restrictions and Then Are Laid Off?

Mayhap you were injured, but you are on the road to a total recovery. Y'all are not entirely there yet, only the doctors say yous are making excellent progress. They even say y'all can return to work, provided you lot take it piece of cake.

Virtually probable, your doc will provide you with a full list of activities you should avoid at work as y'all recover from your injury. When you lot are not physically able to complete all of your job responsibilities, you render to piece of work "with restrictions."

Doctors will provide you with a full list of activities you should avoid at work in the time being. This state is generally referred to as returning to work "with restrictions."

Working with restrictions does not exempt you from being fired or laid off like whatsoever other worker in the company.If you are under restrictions and laid off through no error of your own, withal, you are entitled to a reinstatement of your wage loss benefits upon layoff rather than beingness relegated to unemployment benefits which mostly do not pay equally much (unemployment benefits are taxed and are of express duration). If y'all are dorsum full duty, fifty-fifty if you are still treating for your injury, you are treated similar every other employee in the consequence of a layoff. For this reason, it is important to follow your medico'due south restrictions and avoid the urging of your employer to prematurely go a "full duty" release which could hurt y'all in the long run. It is also critical not to quit if you have been released to return to piece of work only because yous are having difficulty performing the work. In such a situation you should discuss your difficulties with your doctor and have your restrictions antiseptic.

If you are released to return with restrictions, keep in heed that your employer has a right to place you in any position within those restrictions, and at whatever pay it chooses. The fundamental is that if your light duty work pays less than your pre-injury wage, the workers' compensation insurance carrier must brand upward the difference. Many employees feel that the light duty work or rate of pay that is offered to them is meant to exist demeaning, and the temptation is to refuse the work and/or quit. Do not autumn into this trap as y'all are playing right into the hands of the insurance carrier. The mantra in the workers' compensation system is that "work is work" and even if yous have xxx years feel equally a machine technician, your employer can bring you back to work with a clipboard making certain employees wash their easily after using the restroom (don't express mirth–this is a true example). As long equally the employer views the work as worthwhile you must attempt information technology if information technology is within your restrictions.

Consult with ane of our certified workers' compensation attorneys who can farther explicate your rights if you are laid off or fired after a piece of work injury.

What Happens to My Workers' Comp Benefits If I Am Laid Off After an Injury?

Now that we have established you can be laid off while on workers' compensation, this might raise one more than question in your brain. Logically, the next question you should be asking yourself is this — if you are fired after a workers' comp merits, what happens to your benefits? Do you go along to receive them? Or practise they evaporate along with your job?

The short answer is yes; you will proceed to receive your benefits. The long respond, equally you might suspect, is a little bit more complex.

When an injured employee who is currently receiving workers' comp benefits is fired or laid off, this does not affect their right to continue receiving these benefits. According to the law, you still have every right to these benefits. It does non matter if you are currently employed or non. You received your injury while working, and thus, it will nonetheless be covered. You will continue receiving your medical benefits, lost wages and anything other aid to which you are entitled.

In most cases where you have been injured on the job, your dr. is the 1 who will tell you when it is rubber for yous to return to work. There is a adept adventure that once you are partially recovered, they will release you lot to work with restrictions, as we discussed in the previous section. The doctor is unremarkably able to come up with a listing of advisable restrictions based on accurate information yous provide about your job and its typical physical demands.

At this point, you should provide your employer with a copy of your release documentation to show yous are physically ready to return to work with some reasonable restrictions. They can choose to accept your return to work or not.

If they reject your render to work, you will keep receiving your workers' comp benefits, at least until you lot are fully recovered. If they accept your return to work, on the other hand, they might transport a document called a Notice of Ability to Return to Work, fifty-fifty earlier you are fully recovered. This will let you know that your job is ready and waiting for you when you return.

However, in the case that your doctor has cleared y'all to return to work and your employer determined they are gear up and willing to accept y'all back, what happens if you choose not to render to work? If you are perfectly capable of returning to a job, just y'all practice not, yous will stop receiving your workers' compensation benefits.

If you are perfectly capable of returning to a job, but you do not, you will stop receiving your workers' compensation benefits.

This should make perfect sense. After all, workers' compensation is about helping injured workers make ends meet while they are unable to work. If they become able to work and choose not to, they would be taking advantage of workers' comp benefits. These benefits will be revoked if it is proven that such an event has occurred.

Talk With KBG Injury Law to Learn More About Workers' Bounty Benefits Today

Have you been injured at work? Are yous wondering how yous can move forwards with claiming workers' bounty benefits? Or are you trying to cover all your bases and acquire more about how the law works then you can exist prepared for any eventuality?

At KBG Injury Law, our workers' compensation attorneys understand the law is complicated. For this reason, we strive to carefully walk y'all through your case, explaining everything and helping you lot precisely empathise your options.

If yous need help with your workers' compensation instance, whether because you are having trouble claiming your benefits or an employer has wrongfully fired you after an injury, we desire to help y'all. If you have any additional questions, visit us online to schedule your offset free consultation today. You can also call us any time at 800-509-1011.