Ideas to Minimize Legal Problems for Workers Comp Programs

Businesses must always have injury management programs reviewed by a legal resource to ensure the program complies with federal and state workers’ compensation regulations for every state they operate in.

Once the injury coordinator has written the first draft of the company Workers’ Compensation Program, this document should be passed on to the legal department or legal advisor.

It is essential your program document and manual is reviewed by legal staff. If there are discrepancies between your state laws and your company’s implementation, you may have trouble in the future.

It is better to take the time and spend the money upfront when implementing an organized Workers’ Compensation Program plan so all the “Tees” are crossed, so to speak.

Be sure your legal staff does the following:

Review all injury management policies, procedures and accompanying documentation to assure they adhere to federal and state laws.
Participate in weekly meetings and give legal advice as appropriate.
Your legal department will also be of assistance in the following circumstances:
When developing a strategy to handle employees who are unable to safely perform the job. Work with your loss control department to make these jobs safer.
All policies and procedures used for the workers’ compensation management initiative must be reviewed by your insurance resource. In some cases, your insurance resource may refer you to a legal resource. (workersxzcompxzkit).
If there are legal or medical questions about whether the injury was pre-existing.
If you have any questions about when an investigation would not be appropriate.