Working Conditions After a Work Injury

You are injured on the job. Your injury gets treated, and you receive your benefits. Now it is time to return to work. Often times your doctor will at first advise you to not return to doing all of your work duties at once. It is better to start of lightly then little by little return to the same amount of work you were doing before your injury. This will help avoid any slight aches and unpleasant feelings, as well as help ensure recovery.

If however, your employer does not provide you with the working conditions recommended by your doctor, you can be entitled to benefits. Since your employer will not be able to accommodate to you, you are considered temporarily disabled. This being said, you can receive, or continue to receive, the disability payments.

In other cases, it has also occurred that the injured worker returns to modified work, suitable for their situation, but for less hours or less pay. In this situation, the worker is entitled to receive compensation for the wage loss they are facing, on top of what he or she is already earning.

Your employer has one of two choices, they must either comply with the restrictions put forth by your doctor, or provide you with vocational rehabilitation in order to assist you in looking for another job. If you the worker refuse the modified work your employer is providing you, then that will lead to the termination of all the monetary benefits you are receiving.

Bottom Line

Modified working conditions are most of the time recommended by doctors when treating an injured worker. Your employer should comply, but if you are not allowed those modifications on your working conditions, or are granted them, but receive less hours or pay, you can be entitled to monetary compensation. If you have any questions or concerns, contact us. We offer a free consultation and are here to help you get what you deserve.