Workers’ Compensation: Hurt on the Job? Now What?

Filing a report:

The short and simple answer is that you should tell your supervisor how you got hurt and then go see your doctor, or if it cannot wait, go to the nearest urgent care or hospital. Tell the doctor what happened when you get there. The employer should be filling out a report of injury, not the worker. If you are hurt, your focus is on getting better and getting back to work, not filling out the employer’s injury report form.

BODY:

The State of Wisconsin provides a standard form for all employers to report a work injury, which is available here from the Department of Workforce Development’s website. If your boss does not have the form, print one out and give him or her a copy. It cannot be used as evidence against them, so there is no good reason not to fill one out. If your injury is severe enough that you miss 3 workdays in a row, your employer is not only required to fill out a report, but then has to submit that report to its insurance company within one week or to the State within two weeks.

Once the insurance company is involved, you may be asked, but you are NOT required to give a recorded statement. It is a common misunderstanding of many injured Wisconsin workers that a recorded statement is a necessary part of the process or reporting a work injury; it is not. All too often this statement will work against the injured worker in the long run, usually before the worker has had the chance to talk to an attorney. A worker’s compensation insurer in Wisconsin can never deny you benefits because you refuse to give a recorded statement. If they do, you should contact our offices at 262-827-1700 for a consultation with a lawyer at no charge.

Three basic criteria should be met to be eligible for Wisconsin workers’ compensation benefits:

1. The injury has been reported to your supervisor
2. The injury happened because of work
3. You have some medical documentation of that injury (e.g. a doctor’s note or an off-work slip from the hospital)

With these three points fulfilled, you should expect to begin receiving benefits within approximately one month or receive a written letter from the insurance company with the reason why they are not paying you workers compensation benefits. If you have received one of these denial letters, please give our offices a call to find out what rights and benefits we may be able to pursue for you.

What benefits? Wisconsin worker’s compensation rights and benefits (formerly known as workmen’s compensation) include full payment of your medical treatment (no co-pays or deductibles) with a doctor of your choice and partial reimbursement for your lost wages while you are off of work or working fewer hours on light duty. Additional benefits may apply depending on your case.