Hal Davis, a Salt Lake City Workers Compensation Attorney, gives you these five necessary steps to protect your workers compensation rights, if you have been injured at work in Utah. If you need to file a workers compensation claim, remember these 5 important steps:
1. Report Your Work Accident Within 180 Days Of The Injury To Your Employer. Obviously, the sooner you report your work injury to your company, the better. But, in Utah, you have six months from the date of your work accident to file a report. Give that report to your company management, supervisor, boss or similar administrator. Make sure the report is written (not just verbal).
- Your boss or employer is supposed to submit that report to their insurance company.
- The Insurance company is supposed to submit that report to the Utah Labor Commission within 7 days of the initial written injury/accident report. Also make sure you keep a copy of that written report for yourself.
2. Get Doctors’ Written Confirmation That Injury or Accident Took Place At Work, Or Is Work-Related. Whichever medical personnel sees you for an evaluation-nurse, doctor, hospital, emergency center, urgent care center, chiropractor or similar care giver-you need to make sure their written report indicates your injury happened at work.
If you can, have the report be very specific on the details of the work accident-the who what when where and why of the injury. get and keep a written copy of the doctors’ report for your records.
3. The Key Witness In Utah Workers Compensation Case Is: The Doctor. Whatever you may feel otherwise, the key figure in any Utah Workers Compensation claim is the medical personnel involved in the written report. A manager, fellow worker, boss, your Workers Compensation attorney, the insurance company-they may all claim authority-but the key figure is your doctor.
Your company and the company’s insurance provider use this to their advantage, by contracting with healthcare personnel who are paid (by the employers’ insurance company) to help the employer and the insurance company, not you.
Most of the time, a typical doctor’s visit includes some medication, a prescription, perhaps an x-ray, and advice to either:
- Return to work right away;
- Return to work, but do “light duty” activities;
- Stay at home from work for a couple of days, but return at a certain time.
Your ability to stay off of work, and get paid while unable to return to work, is all dependent on that doctors’ report. Which takes us to important Step #4:
4. In Utah You Have The Right To Change Doctors. After your initial consultation with the doctor that your employers’ insurance company has designated, you have the right to see a doctor of your choice (you can only make one change to see a new doctor). Since you only get one doctor transfer, select a doctor you trust, known and like. This ensures the doctor is on your team-unlike the doctor selected by your employers’ insurance company, who in actuality works for your employer and their insurance company.
Your designated doctor will decide:
- How injured you are from the work accident (and how severe the injury is);
- What diagnostic tests and procedures you need;
- If and/or how much time to take time off from work (with pay);
- What medical care, attention, medication, prescriptions, therapy, etc. you will require.
Finally-and just as important as the other 4 steps-…
5. Under No Circumstances Quit Your Job During This Injury. Any termination of your employment should not originate with you. Let your employer or the insurance company “do the dirty work” if there is going to be a job termination. If your employer lets you go during your injury, it only helps your case. Do not complicate possible settlements by voluntarily quitting your job. Your doctor will authorize:
- How much time to take off work
- When it is permitted to return to work;
- What work restrictions, or what kind of work, and for how long you are allowed to perform these duties when you return.
If you return to work-with restrictions as ordered by the doctor-and your employer does not honor these work restrictions (say they want you to perform the same duties previous to the work accident) politely inform your boss or manager that you are unable to perform those tasks due to doctors’ restrictions, and you must abide by the doctor’s guidelines. If your employer fires you based upon this stand, that is alright. You have made your case evident and on record.
For more questions, or if you need consultation on your work injury, employees’ workers compensation benefits in Utah, filing a Utah workers’ compensation claim, or other questions from being denied workers comp benefits in Utah, please call our attorneys at 801-484-5096. Your initial consultation is no charge.
Call Davis & Sanchez Law Firm: Utah Workers Compensation Attorneys-801.746.0290
