Anyone know anything about work injuries?

[kristen821]

About a month ago i hurt my shoulder trying to take out the garbage at work. It was a dull pain on the top of my shoulder and I just thought it was a pulled muscle. I didn't think anything of it. Now it has been about a month and is still sore so I figured I'd send my boss a e-mail just to have it on record in case it comes to be something more serious. The pain isn't too bad, but it's there and hasn't gotten any better. He responded that if I put in a claim it would be denied and that disciplinary action could be taken since I didn't report it when it happened. I didn't respond to his e-mail, because I wasn't sure what to say.

I'm still not really planning on doing anything about my shoulder as of now. I'm just hoping that the pain will go away. I didn't report it when it happened because I didn't think it was a big deal. I work in a warehouse so if I reported every little pain I'd be reporting something everyday, but now I'm worried that eventually I find out that it is more then a pulled muscle. Can the company I work for really deny my claim and can they take disclipinary action against me?

 

[kaligal]

Most companies have you sign something that promises to tell them if you're injured at work. It's a common rule in your bigger companies.

Your boss has no say over whether claims are or are not approved. What an ego.

In any event, pursuing it will further piss him off, so drop it with your boss. When you want answers to legal questions, ask lawyer who practice that sort of law.

And get yourself seen. Better to be sent away with no problems than to let something continue to get worse.

 

[kristen821]

I've worked for this company for 10 years and have never filed a claim so I'm not sure why he is being such a jerk. I just wanted it on record in case. I haven't ever seen my boss and he is hard to get a hold of by phone so I'm not even sure how I would report an injury if it was an emergency in the first place.

 

[kristen821]

Most companies have you sign something that promises to tell them if you're injured at work. It's a common rule in your bigger companies.

Your boss has no say over whether claims are or are not approved. What an ego.

In any event, pursuing it will further piss him off, so drop it with your boss. When you want answers to legal questions, ask lawyer who practice that sort of law.

And get yourself seen. Better to be sent away with no problems than to let something continue to get worse.

I'm sure there is something in the rule book, but I didn't even realize I was injured at first. I was planning on giving it another week and going to my DR to have it looked at. I'm still hoping it's just a pulled muscle that is taking awhile to heal since it is used so much.

 

[AKL_Megs]

FWIW, years ago, my mom was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff. She HAD complained (to herself, her family, but never to her employer) of pain, but one week, something she did at work was the last straw. HER doctor diagnosed it, claiming it was caused by years of working. It wasn't until then that she went to the work clinic, who referred her to a specialist. Everything thereafter (including her surgery and rehab) was covered by Workman's Comp.

My point, she didn't report it right away, but it was proven to be caused by a repetitive movement at work.

 

[kristen821]

FWIW, years ago, my mom was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff. She HAD complained (to herself, her family, but never to her employer) of pain, but one week, something she did at work was the last straw. HER doctor diagnosed it, claiming it was caused by years of working. It wasn't until then that she went to the work clinic, who referred her to a specialist. Everything thereafter (including her surgery and rehab) was covered by Workman's Comp.

My point, she didn't report it right away, but it was proven to be caused by a repetitive movement at work.

My Dad said it sounds like a torn rotator cuff. Thank you for your input I'm so afraid to go to the DR or anything that would give it more of a paper trail then it has since now my boss said it wouldn't be covered through work so I was thinking I might have to wait it out and claim a new injury in a few months if it didn't get better. I'm still hoping for a pulled muscle, but I think I'm kidding myself and this gives me some help. The difference in pay between work related and non work related injury is huge!

 

[AKL_Megs]

Oh, honey, you'd know if it was a torn rotator cuff! My mom couldn't lift her arm to put a shirt on, and her bicep was disfigured from, well, no longer being properly attached!

 

[hambirg]

About a month ago i hurt my shoulder trying to take out the garbage at work. It was a dull pain on the top of my shoulder and I just thought it was a pulled muscle. I didn't think anything of it. Now it has been about a month and is still sore so I figured I'd send my boss a e-mail just to have it on record in case it comes to be something more serious. The pain isn't too bad, but it's there and hasn't gotten any better. He responded that if I put in a claim it would be denied and that disciplinary action could be taken since I didn't report it when it happened. I didn't respond to his e-mail, because I wasn't sure what to say.

I'm still not really planning on doing anything about my shoulder as of now. I'm just hoping that the pain will go away. I didn't report it when it happened because I didn't think it was a big deal. I work in a warehouse so if I reported every little pain I'd be reporting something everyday, but now I'm worried that eventually I find out that it is more then a pulled muscle. Can the company I work for really deny my claim and can they take disclipinary action against me?

Well. . .usually you have 30 days to report an injury. But some injuries are of a repetitive nature (think carpal tunnel) where there wouldn't be a clear "injury" date. I don't know if this is the case with you though. I think you will have to see your doctor and see what he/she says. . .but I wouldn't wait long.

And no, companies can't discipline you for filing a Workers' Comp claim. That is illegal. They also can't deny your claim. That is up to L&I. They can however dispute it.

Do you have an HR department? That's who you need to talk to. And check out your state's Workers' Comp. website. You should find some answers there.

Just for future reference, it's always good to report these things early on. Nobody necessarily expected you to report something like this right when it happened. But when it was still sore the following week, that would have been the best time.

 

[kacaju]

I have been told we need to report any injury ASAP at work.

 

[Nancyg56]

Oh, honey, you'd know if it was a torn rotator cuff! My mom couldn't lift her arm to put a shirt on, and her bicep was disfigured from, well, no longer being properly attached!

She would know if it was a torn rotator cuff but there may be a tear in there somewhere. I just had an MRI that showed a tear. I still have no idea where it is and will not until this morning when I see the orthopedic surgeon. I can lift my arm but I am in considerable pain.

OP- your boss is not in a position to determine your injury, when or how it occurred or if it is work related. My son injured himself at work but did not know that the pain he was suffering was work related. Like you, he thought that it was just something that would go away. He went to his Dr who diagnosed him, told him that the injury was work related and that he needed to report it to his employer. Once that happened he was sent to the facility that his employer uses and to their insurance company.

My DS has a supervisor who tried to overrule the Dr instruction for another employee and that did not go well for the supervisor. GO to your Dr and if you are advised that the injury is work related (this is different than an injury that occurred at work) then follow the protocol of your employer. Good luck!

 

[Allison]

My Dad said it sounds like a torn rotator cuff. Thank you for your input I'm so afraid to go to the DR or anything that would give it more of a paper trail then it has since now my boss said it wouldn't be covered through work so I was thinking I might have to wait it out and claim a new injury in a few months if it didn't get better. I'm still hoping for a pulled muscle, but I think I'm kidding myself and this gives me some help. The difference in pay between work related and non work related injury is huge!

Do NOT claim a new injury. You then would really be setting yourself up to get in trouble.

Go to HR and take care of this promptly.

 

[Sadie22]

There should be posters at your workplace regarding workers' compensation and your rights. It's unfortunate that you did not report the injury sooner but you cannot change that. Report to HR immediately with copies of your email and the boss' response. You will be sent to a company-designated doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

 

[ChickieToo]

How big is the company? Do you have an HR department? My husband and I are small business owners, and I know from experience that your supervisor might get bonused for having an injury-free quarter of year or something. We do this, not to deny injured employees coverage, because accidents happen, but to minimize silly, preventable injuries. For instance, if someone is welding without welding glasses and gets a temporary sort of "retina burn" (the guys call it "mig eye") and needs to go to a doctor and be off work a day or so until he can see out of that eye, the supervisor loses his quarterly bonus because he didn't ensure that the welding glasses were used, or broken ones were replaces, etc. We use the bonus program to emphasize safe workplace practices.

As others have said, your boss cannot and will not be the one to deny or ok your coverage. They have workers liability insurance through a third-party, and once you go to a doctor, this case will be referred to them and they will decide your fate. You will use the workers comp insurance, not your own, and treatment can include surgery, physical therapy or both.

I would forward his email to the HR department because what he did constitutes a threat. It is illegal to fire someone for an injury, and if you go out on workers comp, they can't fire you without opening themselves up to a lawsuit. It's all very strict. I would move forward with this if I were you in the event that you later need surgery and need to be out of work. If you are out under workers comp, say for surgery or something, you will get some sort of lost wages compensation. Best case scenario, you don't lose any work and they send you for some physical therapy and you are put on lighter duty for a few weeks.

Don't deny your health out of fear. Become informed on your company's policies.

 

[Pakey]

HR is one of the departments I manage in a decent sized company. We have had over 100 claims this year so I would say I'm fairly familiar with the process.

Our policy is that injuries must be reported immediately, even if no medical treatment is sought. You very well may receive a written writeup for this infraction. We do this on a regular basis; it doesn't mean you will be terminated. It would only become an issue if you showed a history of doing this, which I know would not be the case. So I would not worry about getting this write-up; it's a matter of procedure more than anything else.

The company cannot deny your claim. You have the right to submit a claim; the insurance carrier will be the entity to determine eligibility. Even if the carrier were to deny (highly doubtful), you would have the right to go through an appeal process. It is rare that this happens, especially with the type of injury you have. They are going to cover it.

You should report it and go through the process. You could have lasting pain/difficulties as a result of your injury and you want to make sure that you are covered.

An employer cannot terminate an employee for having an injury. They can write you up for not following procedure but that's it.

 

[satorifound]

My husband almost got fired for not reporting a splinter when it turned into blood poisioning. They are very strict on work injuries. He reported it within the 4 day time period, but not when it happened.

 

[allison443]

My Dad said it sounds like a torn rotator cuff. Thank you for your input I'm so afraid to go to the DR or anything that would give it more of a paper trail then it has since now my boss said it wouldn't be covered through work so I was thinking I might have to wait it out and claim a new injury in a few months if it didn't get better. I'm still hoping for a pulled muscle, but I think I'm kidding myself and this gives me some help. The difference in pay between work related and non work related injury is huge!

Do you mean claim a new work-related injury in a few months? Won't your boss remember you were already injured though? I agree with another poster, you can get yourself in trouble that way...

 

[mamacatnv]

Proceed directly to HR
Keep the email from your idiot boss

Our policy has a 7 day notice requirement and we have an immediate notice policy for all our employees. If someone tweaks something, cuts something, pulls a muscle etc. they report it to me immediately where I then note it in a book I keep for that purpose. If the slight injury becomes worse then it is documented for workers comp insurance coverage.

The reason that there are notification rules is so that someone cannot claim an injury from home or somewhere else and then try and get workers comp to cover it.

If you were in my state, your claim would be denied due to the lenght of time from injury to reporting. However, your private insurance should cover it without further issue. They may try and foist it off into your work comp carrier but it will come down to the notification rules that are in place for the policy.

 

[kristen821]

Thank you everyone for your input. I wish I realized my shoulder would hurt a month later. I seriously didn't think anything of it. I thought I was just a wimp and couldn't lift the 50 gallon garbage bag and didn't think about it again until it still hurt weeks later. I will make a doctor appointment and go from there.
Since technically I did report it to the boss now (just a month later)I guess I'm lucky he didn't make me come back with a doctors note saying I could work before letting me work, which I'm assuming he could be in trouble for that so I don't want to forward the email to HR just yet but I will print it out and save it in case I need it for the future.

 

[pioneer89]

About a month ago i hurt my shoulder trying to take out the garbage at work. It was a dull pain on the top of my shoulder and I just thought it was a pulled muscle. I didn't think anything of it. Now it has been about a month and is still sore so I figured I'd send my boss a e-mail just to have it on record in case it comes to be something more serious. The pain isn't too bad, but it's there and hasn't gotten any better. He responded that if I put in a claim it would be denied and that disciplinary action could be taken since I didn't report it when it happened. I didn't respond to his e-mail, because I wasn't sure what to say.

I'm still not really planning on doing anything about my shoulder as of now. I'm just hoping that the pain will go away. I didn't report it when it happened because I didn't think it was a big deal. I work in a warehouse so if I reported every little pain I'd be reporting something everyday, but now I'm worried that eventually I find out that it is more then a pulled muscle. Can the company I work for really deny my claim and can they take disclipinary action against me?

Hmmm, your boss is not acting very brightly.

You certainly could be disciplined for reporting an injury late... but by sending your boss the email, you have reported it late and he did not discipline you. Give it a few more weeks if you can stand it, and then send him another email saying you are going to the doctor. If he does anything to you then, you likely (IANAL) will just have to send the email chain to your HR department, and they will tell your boss how badly he screwed up. The reasoning is that by disciplining you not after you report, but only after you go to the doctor, you have a fairly clear-cut case for retaliation.

How well you do will depends on how big your company is and what the laws are in your state. The bigger they are, the more likely they have a good understanding of the law and will not give you a hard time.

Just remember, throughout this whole thing, that the only thing you did wrong was not reporting an injury in a timely fashion. And you tried to correct that by reporting it a month later.