The Folks in HR told me not to…
It plays out all the time. You work day in and day out for a boss that you believe has your best interest at heart. The boss has workers compensation coverage in the event you are injured at work. Why not? You are working for the boss, under his control, and doing what he asks of you. So of course if something happens to you at work, the boss wants to take care of you. For fairy tale sake let’s assume this is true.
You get hurt. Do everything right and as such inform the human resources contact person that you were hurt and need to make a claim against the company’s work comp insurance. The HR rep tells you “they’ll” deny it and there is no point in you filling out the paperwork. What!? This is the point where most people say, “okay” or a few choice phrases under breath and walk away.
Do not walk away. First of all, where is the HR rep when you’re paying the bill for it. What is “the paperwork?” Who should be filling it out anyway? Maybe it’s just a form, but it’s way easier for the HR rep to tell you it’s not worth it. Understand that if HR tells you “they’ll deny it anyway” you should recognize that it’s not up to that rep to make the decision in the first place. It’s your livelihood and only you know if it’s “worth it.”
Some of my other personal favorites are “we already exhausted our policy” and “you need to file this under your short term disability.” It’s amazing how creative people can be with excuses to not have to their job. If you feel like you’re getting the run around give us a call. There is an entire department at the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo that works solely on worker’s compensation benefit claims and we’re never afraid to do work if it means that you and your family can rest easy.
