Does anyone know about workers comp?

[bazookaman]

Have a friend who was hurt on the job. The doc said she MAY be out as long as 6 weeks. Her employer is telling her she'll have to exhaust all her sick and vacation time then switch to STD. Now that sounds normal had she been hurt on her OWN time. But why should she use any of her own resources when it was a job related incident?

[michael_s]

That's how it worked for me. I injured my elbow during a work related event. (out of the office but sponsored by the company). 6 months of disability followed the surgery. I had to use all of my accumulated PTO, then short-term, then long term. I came back to work early because I din't want to deal with the reduced pay any longer.

[decay]

that seems wrong to me, even if it's not.

[bazookaman]

decay wrote:
that seems wrong to me, even if it's not.

Me too. That's what i don't understand. So workers comp is no different if you are injured on the job vs injured at your house? With the exception of picking up dr. bills I suppose.

[DP]

>But why should she use any of her own resources when it was a job related incident?

Is it possible she was doing something that she shouldn't have been doing-ignoring procedures set in place by the company, for example-that contributed to her injury? Some companies will take things like that into consideration when dealing with workman's comp.

[cbelt3]

The requirement to take vacation / accumulated sick days is common to FMLA. NOT to Workman's Comp. Your friend is being screwed with.

HOWEVER... Workman's Compensation pay is typically LESS than normal pay. If that was the issue, then the "suggestion" she received may be correctly helpful.

Sadly, in many cases a lawyer is necessary to even get what's due you.

[bazookaman]

Nice. I actually did the FMLA dance when my daughter was born.

I told her (friend not daughter) she should at least talk to a lawyer. And believe me. She knows A LOT of them.

[Grateful11]

It's been fought and won on behalf of rail workers that fall under FELA, Federal Employee Labor Act, that
you don't have to take your vacation days nor do you have to file for FMLA, Family Medical Leave Act,
benefits before collecting any sickness benefits. I'm not sure if this applies to anyone other than an
FELA case. I hope this helps at least a little, I've been there and know what it's like but I had a Union
by my side to help guide me through it.

Here's a link to the case:

http://www.iamdl19.org/FMLA/JSCaseNo3750...121008.pdf

General Info for others not under FELA.

Vacation Pay / Sick Pay

http://www.las-elc.org/vacation-pay-sick-pay

Very Pro-Company/Management article:

Sick Leave and Personal Days Law & Legal Definition

http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/sick-le...onal-days/

[Black]

bazookaman wrote:
Have a friend who was hurt on the job. The doc said she MAY be out as long as 6 weeks. Her employer is telling her she'll have to exhaust all her sick and vacation time then switch to STD. Now that sounds normal had she been hurt on her OWN time. But why should she use any of her own resources when it was a job related incident?

I think rules on this sort of thing vary by state. It seems most states' labor dept. have some sort of help site up. Which state are you in?

[bazookaman]

Black wrote:
I think rules on this sort of thing vary by state. It seems most states' labor dept. have some sort of help site up. Which state are you in?

NC