Work Restrictions Ignored by Employer Causing More Injury

It is often the work restrictions that provide help to the employee and others that will work with him or her once the person sustains an injury and needs certain accommodations such as a lighter workload or only specific tasks. When the employer is the cause of the problem, he or she could face serious penalties if another reports his or her actions.

Whether the employee suffered injury, temporary or permanent disability or has a health condition, there are numerous work restrictions in place by a worker’s compensation package and insurance to provide time to recover even if he or she is at work again. It is through these limits that the company is able to deliver a safer and healthier short-term future until the employee is back to full strength. However, if the employer does not follow these restrictions, he or she could cause a new injury, the person to suffer the same injury again or an incident in the workplace that harms others as well as the initial individual.

Responsibilities of the Employer

The doctor that the employee must see after he or she suffers an injury and proceeds through a worker’s compensation claim will document all the necessary actions and precautions about the situation. The restrictions he or she places on the employee require adherence, but they also limit what the person is capable of while working. He or she may return to the job, but he or she may not continue working in the same manner until cleared to do so by the physician. The responsibilities of the employer require him or her to ensure the person remains at the job without termination for the restrictions and to provide a safe atmosphere by following these restrictions.

What the Employer Must Do

The employer has various obligations that he or she must follow through with employees and worker’s compensation packages. He or she must accommodate work restrictions to the greatest extent possible. If he or she violates these terms, he or she may become and remain liable for further injury to the returning to work employee and anyone that person harms through a lack of restriction. He or she must also find any alternative work if the individual is unable to continue with the same job or tasks as before the injury. This could lead to work created for the situation or work that no one was currently engaged in taking precedence.

If the previously injured person is unable to continue working in the same manner, the employer must provide some form of vocational training or rehabilitation so that the person may progress with the company. This could result in a new job, the person working in another department or the individual seeking work elsewhere with the new training. Another obligation is the allowance for the employee to seek doctor help or to travel to the doctor for treatment, injuries or medication. Physician approval at the company is important for the employee to remain working during the recovery process.

The Injured Worker

What the injured worker must first do after the injury is seek medical attention. This generally must happen with an approved doctor in a worker’s compensation package or with the knowledge of the company. Any outside activity could result in payments to the doctor by the employee. After the physician provides treatment to the person, he or she may issue certain work restrictions if the individual returns to work after the medication or procedure completes. The employee then must work with the doctor to ensure the insurance company takes the claim without denying it. It is then that the worker gives the restrictions to the employer. Someone else may perform this action is necessary.