Navigating a workplace accident, the consequences of it, and how to get compensated for a work-related injury is a complex process. People injured at work will almost certainly be entitled to paid recovery time and some degree of compensation for their loss of function and quality of life due to their injury.
To maximize their benefits, injured workers are often advised to keep their jobs, even if their place of work becomes combative or stressful following an injury.
Why should you never quit your job while on workers’ comp?
The primary reason workers should not quit their job while still receiving workers’ comp benefits is because doing so could put their benefits at risk. Ideally, this would not occur. Where and how a worker is employed should not affect a workers’ comp claim that has already been finalized and agreed to.
But an injured worker’s employer is ultimately paying an insurance company that is, in turn, disbursing workers’ comp payments to cover damages, lost hours, or a change in a worker’s pay. If the injured worker quits, the employer may attempt to use that as an excuse to cancel any remaining workers’ comp payments they owe.
Below are two examples where an employer could try to find a legal basis for canceling workers’ comp payments as a result of a worker quitting their job:
To be safe, an injured worker who is either receiving workers’ compensation benefits or is in the process of filing for workers’ comp should not quit their job unless they are advised to do so by an expert workers’ comp attorney.
The key to a successful workers’ compensation claim or disability claim is to proceed with caution and to make informed decisions when navigating the process. NRS Injury Law is the largest workers’ compensation law firm in Ohio and the leading injury law firm in the state. A complement of NRS workers’ comp lawyers are standing by to help. For a free consultation, call 855.468.4878, or fill out this convenient online contact form.