Employee Claims Injury at Work?
My business is very small and I had to let go an employee due to very poor performance, bad atitude, theft etc.
The employee has now filed a workers comp claim against my company, stating he was Injured in October he was terminated in December and did not mention any Injury prior to dismisal. How should I proceed I have just recieved a letter from an attourney.
My company does not have work Comp coverage. Would this covered through the payrole taxes ? or do I not need to have workers comp because my company is so small ?
What type of contract do you have with this employee?
If it’s an at will contract. Your free from responsibility because you don’t have to state your reasons for termination. If he’s filing a claim. You need to put the burden back on him to explain why he’s now claiming it. Also, you need to bring forward employees that can speak against him.
If you need any fingers to count your non-family employees then you needed to have workmans comp insurance. wether it was a law in the state you are in I don’t know, that would be because I don’t know what state you are in. if it is not covered under state law then you are in luck. after 30 days if someone does not report the injury you can fight it and ususaly win. that is because there is a very small window of oppertunity to file these forms with OSHA if you want to stay in compliance, and any injury that would qualify for workmans comp MUST be filed with OSHA. no exception. I would recomend getting a lawyer and filing a motion for dismissal of the suit based on a retalitory nature that is obviosly is. At the very least your lawyer would require the other side to produce the medical records to validate the injury.
Consult a lawyer who specializes in these types of cases in your state. This ex-employee might have a legitimate case against you, but I doubt it.
At any rate, contact the Small Business Administration. They should have experts on hand to explain what insurance you should have to cover this type of thing in the future. It really depends on the number of employees, whether they are full-time or part-time and the type of business.
I was going to say you are in the clear. There is no way a person can win a case if they took two months to report an injury.
But you are in for a mighty bad time. You’ve been breaking the law all this time?? This case is going to out you. You are going to have to pay all of your back workman’s comp premiums. You will also probably be heavily fined, might lose licenses, etc.
It would be helpful to know your STATE, as comp laws are state
specific. That said however, employer is ALWAYS liable for
industrial injury/illness, whether your state requires you to
purchase WC coverage from an insurance carrier, or be legally self
insured, or other type of responsibility… it’s still yours. Now,
as you are not legally insured, your exemployee can and will sue
you in civil court for recovery in his/her injury. Contact your
attorney… you’re going to be spending some money on this one. You
should also know, there is a statute of limitations in ALL states
for an injured worker to file a claim. The time of filing a first
report of injury varies on the circumstances. Some of the
information provided here is blatantly wrong. OSHA does NOT have
jurisdiction over industrial injury, the SBA/small business
admisitration has NO jurisdiction over industrial injury. SBA is
for “small business” loan guarantee. They don’t have experts on
staff to advise you on legal matters of your business. Unbelievable
the misinformation out there on Workers Compensation and the
process. Unbelievable…