Here is another important piece of information we want to provide you with respect to North Carolina Workers Compensation Claims.
And that is this: If you get hurt at work, don’t quit your job.
I’ll say it again: If you get hurt at work, don’t quit your job.
And again: Do not quit your job!
I know I sound like a broken record, but if I could shout it from the rooftops, I would. We regularly get calls from people who were badly hurt on the job, who desperately need help paying the mounting medical bills, and actually have a pretty good case on their hands. And it breaks my heart every time I hear that that person quit his or her job before calling us.
I understand why injured workers feel like their only option is to quit their job after an accident. They’re hurting, and their employer won’t listen and refuses to change their duties to match the doctor’s restrictions. Or maybe the doctor they went to won’t listen, and their pain only gets worse every day. It’s frustrating and stressful and eventually everyone has a breaking point. But if you get hurt at work and decide to quit your job, you instantly lessen any hope you had of taking your workers’ comp case to a Hearing and recovering your benefits.
The workers’ comp insurance companies would love for you to quit, because by quitting, you basically make their case for them. Injured employees can be awarded workers’ comp benefits when a workplace injury leaves them unable to work. In North Carolina, if you have an accepted claim, even if you are able to work, but your doctor says you cannot physically return to the work you were doing before the accident, you would still likely be entitled to ongoing weekly benefits.
But if you quit your job, the reason you can’t work isn’t because you were injured and you have to adhere to your doctor’s physical restrictions; it’s mostly because you took yourself out of the labor market by quitting. A Commissioner will take one look at a case where the employee quit, shrug, and may very well say, “tough luck.”
If you have an accepted claim, and your doctor puts you on light-duty, your employer has to either: 1. find a reasonable way to accommodate your restrictions, 2. find you another job within your restrictions, or 3. If they do not want to accommodate your restrictions, then keep paying you benefits for up to 500 weeks, assuming you are looking for other work within your restrictions. In most cases, they will simply keep paying you your weekly benefits.
If your employer does accommodate your restrictions and you come back to work on light duty after an injury, and it still hurts, then you should go back to your doctor, tell the doctor exactly what they are making you do at work that hurts you, and have your doctor write an order demanding the employer follow your restrictions. Sometimes, the doctor may decide that it’s a dangerous environment for you and he or she does not want you working in that environment at all, and then takes you back out of work again, in which case your weekly comp benefits would re-start. If your doctor won’t listen to you, call a workers’ comp attorney who may be able to get you a different doctor who will listen.
But again, if you quit, without the doctor holding you out of work, you have greatly lessened any possibility that any of those things can occur because you have removed yourself from work by quitting. In other words, the reason you are not working is because you quit, not because a doctor says you cannot work.
I cannot tell you how many great cases we have been forced to turn away because the worker quit his job before he called us.
If you have been injured at work or you know someone who was hurt on the job, and are wondering if you should quit, think about all the medical bills you have to pay on your road to recovery from your work injuries. Workers’ comp exists to help you cover your medical expenses so you can heal and maybe one day rejoin the workforce. Don’t make an impulsive decision to quit that ruins your chances of being able to get the help you need.
I’ll leave you with one last piece of advice: If you get hurt at work, don’t quit your job!
Wishing you a speedy recovery,
Joe Miller
