What Activities Are You Not Allowed to Do While on Workers Comp?
Having to go on worker’s compensation is not exactly the most entertaining or pleasurable things you can do. Not only does it often involve rather significant and sometimes debilitating pain due to the injuries sustained on the job that lead to the compensation, but it also comes included with a number of things that you cannot do without running the risk of losing out on your worker’s compensation. Here are some examples of activities that are disallowed when on worker’s compensation.
Activities Which Are Not Allowed On Worker’s Compensation
Basically, the reason why you can’t do certain activities while on worker’s compensation is because being on worker’s compensation implies that you should not be able to perform them if you were truly incapacitated by your job. Essentially, it is an exception made with the purpose of weeding out people who are trying to receive compensation illegitimately. This does create some problems, as the pursuit to weed them out will inevitably result in people who truly do need worker’s compensation. The thing of it is, figuring out if you are truly eligible involves — or should involve — determining that the activity you are engaging in contradicts what you wrote on your worker’s compensation form. For example, if you complain about having a bad back and are thus unable to perform your normal work duties, but are found to have been doing a lot of heavy lifting while you were away from work thanks to worker’s compensation, that would very likely lead to you not only losing out on the worker’s compensation, but if they can prove that you were definitely lying, they may be able to go after you for defrauding the worker’s compensation system, an accusation that no one should take lightly. Ultimately, the most valuable way to determine what you should be capable of still doing during your recovery is by talking to your doctor. The doctor will inspect you and may determine that you have a temporary total disability or a partial disability, both which may make you have different restrictions and advisements given to you.
Generally, the best way to avoid receiving scrutiny for your worker’s compensation status is to avoid any activities that may cause skepticism, if at all possible. Even if you don’t think it is a big deal or that it will be something you can manage even with your disability (temporary or permanent), following your doctor’s orders is the best thing you can do. Not just for whether you continue to receive the necessary compensation, but also to make sure that the recovery process goes as smoothly as possible. Make sure that you don’t slack on your doctor or physical therapist appointments, as that may create complications with both your worker’s compensation eligibility and the speed and quality of your recovery. Be sure to give all relevant information to your doctor as far as the severity of the injury goes. Withholding that information will do nothing except make your doctor less able to diagnose how severe everything is. This could even result in your doctor determining that you are capable of going back to work, or that the compensation which you require does not need to be very high. On the other hand, if you exaggerate how bad your damages are, not only would it be incredibly limiting if they did decide that your injuries are more severe than they actually are, the more common result is that the doctor will determine that you are exaggerating, which at best gets disregarded, and at worst may be seen as you trying to take advantage of the system.
Worker’s compensation is a system that goes on for a certain amount of time, with that time depending on how much the damages have prevented you from functioning as you once did. For example, if you lose the ability to walk for two years and are not able to perform job duties, you will be able to at least benefit from workers’ compensation as long as these injuries persist and prevent you from receiving it anymore. Of course, there is still the potential that you will have to reapply for workers’ compensation, due to the provider potentially denying your application. Navigating insurance red tape is an all-too-difficult process for many, and one only made easier when they have one or more lawyers working on their side to ensure that they are given the compensation that they deserve. With a lawyer, that creates a huge benefit, as all of that red tape becomes a lot easier to manage if they have the experience in doing so. When you are denied a claim, it is important that you take in why the appeal was denied and try to change or explain aspects that they did not like on your application. It is all too frustrating to be denied the workers’ compensation that you need, especially when the provider is doing basically nothing to help you understand why the application was denied in the first place. Clear communication combined with a well-written complaint can go quite the long way.
