When you get hurt on the job, you will likely feel grateful for the availability of workers’ compensation. After you report the incident to your employer, you can file a claim for benefits. These critical benefits will pay not only all of the medical costs associated with your necessary treatment but also replace a portion of your wages until you are able to return to work.
Most employers understand that injured workers need support. That’s one of the reasons that they have the obligation to carry workers’ compensation insurance in the first place. Sadly, there are some companies who may try to punish workers who assert their own rights by claiming workers’ compensation benefits, possibly because they resent how a claim might increase their insurance costs or require an accommodation for the worker’s injuries until they heal.
Your employer cannot punish you or fire you for asserting your rights
Federal employee protections include protection against retaliation. When an employer demotes, fires or otherwise punishes an employee for seeking workers compensation benefits, they engage in illegal retaliation.
Instead of trying to punish you, your employer should be working with you and helping to get you back on the job. You shouldn’t have to worry about losing your source of income at the same time that you are recovering from an injury because of the work that you perform.
If you believe that your employer wants to push you out or if you have already gotten fired because you sought workers’ compensation benefits, you may have the right to take legal action against your employer for their inappropriate treatment of an injured employee.
