Keefe: Should You Stay in Touch With an Injured Worker?

Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | 0

We were asked this question by a valued reader and wanted to expand our thoughts and recommendations.

Eugene Keefe

Please note when you have any workers’ comp claim, a natural tendency is to avoid your employee. We feel all employers should actually do the opposite.

Never, ever trust the workers’ compensation system to work in your best interests in a work comp claim.

Other than for accrued vacation time, we feel you need to have a strong human resources policy to tell all workers and their supervisors to stay in close contact on at least a weekly basis. We feel this applies to any and all paid time off, WC or other lost time.

Don’t let anyone disappear from sight. Someone out on work comp or sick leave may want to get away from you and do his best to vanish while still getting paid and accruing other benefits. Whenever we see a worker off work for months or years, it almost always seems like he has vanished from sight of the employer. Don’t fall into that trap.

We are asked all the time: What if the worker has counsel? Isn’t there an ethical restriction on staying in touch and talking to such a worker? Well, there is an ethical restriction on me and anyone who is a licensed lawyer, when the worker has his own counsel. Before I can talk to a represented worker, I have to have prior approval from his attorney and/or have the attorney on the call/conversation.

That doesn’t apply to most managers or co-workers who aren’t lawyers. You can and should tell your workers you are going to call them, or ask them call you back in a timely fashion. If you don’t hear from them at all, you then need to decide what is best for you and your company.

In our view, you can and should consider cutting off temporary total disability and other benefits to ensure you are receiving regular communication.

What can, and should, you discuss with an injured worker out on benefits?

When you talk with the injured employee, never, ever encourage him to terminate his counsel or drop his claim. We are certain that if you make this claims mistake you may be fired or at least receive a challenging call from the claimant’s counsel. We also feel you should stay away from any discussions of settlement.

When you or your team talk to a represented claimant, we feel you can and should check to ensure:

• Reasonable, necessary and related medical bills are being paid.
• The worker is receiving disability checks.
• The worker is happy with medical care.
• The worker is progressing on the expected medical recovery path.
• Where appropriate, let him know his job is waiting.

Eugene Keefe is a founding partner of Keefe, Campbell, Biery and Associates, a Chicago-based workers' compensation defense firm. This column was reprinted, with permission, from the firm's client newsletter.