There’s a lot of strain that comes with suffering a workplace accident, and not just with your physical health. Figuring out how you’re going to afford everything you need, and continue taking care of your family, after a serious injury can be a huge stress while you’re also trying to focus on your recovery; leading many to wonder whether it would just be easier to just quit working altogether to minimize the pressure. If this is you though, we’ll warn you, you might want to take some time to consider the consequences first.
Wage Loss Changes
One thing you have to watch out for is an employer offering you “light duty.” Basically, an employer can take into account your new physical limitations, and offer some type of position that better suits the employee – but it isn’t always what it seems. Employers will often offer tedious jobs in the hopes of driving the employee to quit, knowing full well that refusing light duty and quitting will force the injured worker to forfeit all their disability/wage loss benefits.
Whether or not you’re offered light duty should not encourage you to quit. Even if you’re not offered anything more, quitting allows an employer to turn around and claim that you ruined your own chances of being offered another position. For this reason, you should always consult your trusted workers’ compensation attorney whenever you’re thinking of quitting or starting a new position while receiving benefits.
Medical Care Changes
Workers’ compensation recipients are entitled to full medical coverage, without copays, to cover the cost of any treatments and/or procedures. You can even choose your own physician after just 28 days. The better news though is, you don’t have worry about ever losing your medical assistance if you need to quit your job. If your employer or insurance provider tries to fight you on it, or tell you that you will start owing money for your care if you quit, all you’ll need is a fierce workers’ compensation attorneys, like ours at Aiello Law Group, to set matters straight.
Settlements
If you plan to settle, meaning you wish to forfeit any future wage loss and medical benefits you may be entitled to for one large cash payment to use however you see fit, it really makes no difference if you also want to quit your job. What does matter though, is when. If you quit before you settle, your insurance company might use that to try and reduce what they need to pay you since they will not have to consider wage loss benefits, which isn’t fair to you. That’s why, your best option is to just hang on till after you’ve settled, then you can take your money and do whatever you want.
Have more questions about the workers’ compensation process, or maintaining/ceasing employment while receiving benefits? Feel free to get in touch with our knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorneys at Aiello Law Group anytime! Call us, today, at 313.964.4900 or fill out the form in the sidebar or on our contact page, and learn more about how we can help you.
