Injured at Work? Know Your Rights!

It seemed like any other day.  That day.  The day everything changed for you.

You got out of bed, drank your coffee, took a shower and got dressed.

You got to work and made small talk with your co-workers about the morning headlines and the weekends’ sports news.  Your supervisor gave his Monday morning speech about productivity, the one you’ve heard every week since you were hired years ago.   You listened, you got your assignments, it was time to get to work.

Off to the warehouse you went with about a dozen other of your co-workers.  The new guy was there, too.  Just a kid, really, but he was alright.  A little time and training, and he’ll fit right in.

You powered up your forklift and moved your crates.  You were working within your assigned area, when you spotted the new kid climbing up the shelves without a ladder…grounds for termination on the spot.     You yelled at him to get down before your supervisor saw anything, but while doing so, you became distracted for a second and your forklift bumped into some crates.  Your neck and back jarred against your seat.  This got your co-workers’ attention and he got down.  Rookie mistake.  Job saved.

But a few minutes later, your neck was throbbing and your low back aching.  A couple of Tylenol at lunchtime did NOT do the trick at all.  You left a little early saying you had to pick up your son from school.  You didn’t mention the forklift accident, your back, your neck or your pain.  Why?  Because it will be okay tomorrow.

But it wasn’t.  You iced it and bought a heating pad.  You applied sports cream and rested.  Your wife thought you were faking so you didn’t have to go to her cousin’s wedding over the weekend.  You needed to see a doctor, but how?  Your copays are through the roof and you could not afford to be out of work without a paycheck.  You didn’t know your options.

You suffered quietly for the next few weeks.  You went to work, using a sick day here and there to get through the week.  Your weekends were spent on the couch.  You missed doing things with your friends and family.  You gained a little weight from inactivity.  Your stomach bothered you from all the Tylenol.

You finally told a co-worker what had happened when he saw you grimacing in pain.  He knew enough about workers’ comp to tell you to notify your supervisor about what had happened and get in touch with the workers’ comp insurance carrier.  You did that.  You told them you needed to see a doctor.

A week later, your claim was denied.  No proper notice of the accident or something.  The kid whose job you saved was fired anyway for some other reason.  He was your witness, but you didn’t know his last name.  Nobody did.  Personnel wouldn’t give it to you either saying it was confidential.

So you go to put it under your private health care, despite your high deductibles and co-pays.  They won’t pay for your treatment, not even an MRI.  They said it’s work related therefore not covered.

Now what?

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Would you have known what do if this happened to you?  It’s ok if you don’t.  A lot of people don’t know a thing about workers’ comp and their employers may not necessarily know enough about it to help.

In New Jersey, we have a workers’ compensation system that allows for injured workers to receive three (3) types of benefits.  The first is medical treatment.   The second is wage replacement or temporary disability when an authorized doctor says you cannot work. The third is permanent disability, a percentage that is determined by your injury and resulting permanent disability.

I hope nothing like this ever happens to you or your family.  But in the event it does, you should know your rights.

In the next few weeks, I’ll tell you more about all of these benefits and one more….

Kathy Dotoli  732-349-0188

gooky6@aol.com