Missouri Injury Law; Reporting Work Related Injuries

Missouri Injury Law; Reporting Work Related Injuries

When someone suffers an injury at work, it is often difficult to determine what their next step might be. Most often, it is a case where many employees view the injury as minor and assume that if they report the injury, they are liable to lose their job, which is not a pleasant place to be in today’s competitive workplace. Sadly, often times these “minor” injuries become much more serious and the employee ends up losing their job anyway, because they could no longer perform their duties.

Know Your Rights

When an employee is injured at work, they must protect themselves by filing a Missouri Workmen’s Comp Claim. And this valuable document must be filed within thirty days of the accident/injury. In this claim, the worker must file the exact date, time and nature of the injury. If the employee fails to report the work-related injury, any future problems that may arise might not be covered by Missouri workmen’s comp insurance. And unfortunately, this will leave the employee responsible for all medical bills. In regards to the fear of being fired, if one decides to file a workmen’s comp claim, it is illegal for an employer to fire an employee if they file a claim, this is called retaliatory termination.

Next Step

After the reporting of the injury, the employee must then seek immediate medical attention, this is essential. Your employer will provide a doctor for you. The injured employee must also hire a Missouri workmen’s comp attorney in order to guarantee that all their rights are duly met. Hiring a workmen’s comp attorney is critical, in that they will file the claim for you and keep you abreast on all developments. With the claim on file with the Missouri courts, all disagreements and disputes are handled through the attorney and the courts.

Good personal injury attorneys will never let you feel that you are over-extending your rights. In today’s workplace, often times the employee has their health and well-being as their only asset.