• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Search
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
 
CHOOSE BROADSPIRE

Amaxx Workers Comp Blog

Reduce Workers Compensation Costs By 20-50%

Header Right

  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Get Started
    • Newcomers Class for WC Professionals
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Free Training Center Account
    • Return to Work Resources
    • WC Claims Mgmt. Resources
    • Insurance Advisor Resources
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login

Mobile Menu

Choose Broadspire

CHOOSE BROADSPIREBroadspire Delivers Meaningful Results to Our Clients and Their Claimants
  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Get Started
    • Newcomers Class for WC Professionals
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Free Training Center Account
    • Return to Work Resources
    • WC Claims Mgmt. Resources
    • Insurance Advisor Resources
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login
  • Search
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
You are here: Home / Post Injury Systems / Communication with Employees / Injured Workers Hire Attorneys Due To Lack of Employer Communication

Injured Workers Hire Attorneys Due To Lack of Employer Communication

September 21, 2020 By //  by Rebecca Shafer, J.D. Leave a Comment

Employers often overlook one of the simplest ways to control claim cost – staying in touch with the injured employee.

Employers, in their efforts to control workers’ compensation claim costs, often go to great lengths to manage their safety program, provide medical management, and analyze data.  Employers also often incorporate computer programs with the latest technology in their quest for work comp cost control.  All of this is good, but employers often overlook one of the simplest ways to control claim cost – staying in touch with the injured employee.  

Work Comp Communication Should Start At Date of Hire 

As a part of the new hire package, every employee should be told what to do in the case of an on-the-job injury, including how to report the injury to the employer and the requirement to continue the communications after the injury. This sets the stage for on-going communication with the employee when a work comp injury occurs.

Communication with the injured employee is of utmost importance from the moment the injury occurs until the last aspect of the worker’s compensation claim is concluded.  When an accident happens, the first focus should be on the immediate medical needs of the injured employee.  Communication at this point should be limited to the question of what happened, and if immediate medical attention is needed.

If the injury is severe, the workers’ compensation coordinator or the employee’s supervisor should accompany the injured employee to the emergency clinic or hospital.  The work comp coordinator should contact the employee immediately following the initial doctor’s visit to determine the diagnosis, the prognosis, the treatment plan, and the injured employee’s work restrictions.   

Click Link to Access Free PDF Download

“9-Element Blueprint To Create Your Workers’ Comp Employee Brochure”

Employees Hire Attorneys Due To Lack of Communication

The most needless way of dramatically increasing the cost of a workers’ compensation claim is to ignore an injured employee, causing the employee to hire an attorney.  There are three primary reasons injured employees hire attorneys.  They are conflict, fear, and greed.

  • Conflict:  The injured employee gets into a dispute with either the employer or the adjuster.  Conflict normally occurs when all necessary information about the claim handling process has not been provided to the employee.  By communicating frequently and completely with the employee, conflict can be avoided.
    • Fear:  The employee is concerned about his/her future employment, his/her future income, and/or his/her ability to provide for his/her family.
  • Greed:  The employee sees the accident as a way to gouge the employer or insurer for some extra money.

There is not much an employer can do about an employee’s level of greed, but an employer can prevent most employees from hiring an attorney by staying in touch with them.  When employers have on-going communication with injured employees, conflict and fear are greatly reduced or eliminated.

The immediate contact after the first doctor’s visit reassures the employee that the employer is concerned about the employee’s wellbeing. It also lets the employee know that the employer is keeping the employee’s job for him/her, and the employer wants the employee back at work when the employee is physically able to return to work.

If the injured employee is not released to return to work following the initial medical provider visit, the employer must make a point of staying in touch with the injured employee. The injured employee can be instructed to phone the work comp coordinator following each doctor’s visit to advise what the doctor’s treatment plan is.  Also, the employee should be reminded that he/she is still required to attend all employee/staff meetings if the employee is physically capable of doing so.

FREE DOWNLOAD: “9-Element Blueprint To Create Your Workers’ Comp Employee Brochure”

Regular Contact Reassures Employee They Are Still Wanted At Work

The work restrictions provided by the doctor should be reviewed and discussed with the employee. If at all possible, a transitional duty job within the boundaries of the work restrictions should be provided to the employee.  The work comp coordinator should also be in touch with the adjuster and the medical provider to be sure the adjuster and medical provider are aware a transitional duty job is being provided to the employee.

On-going communications with the injured employee should continue for as long as the employee is off work, even with severe injuries where the employee is off for an extended period of time.  By continuing regular contact with the injured employee, the employee is reassured that the employer does want him/her to return to work.

Staying in touch maintains the employee’s morale, builds rapport with the employee, keeps the employee from hiring an attorney, and lowers the overall cost of the workers’ compensation claim.  Employers should make staying in touch with the injured employees a central tenet of their work comp cost control program.

Rebecca ShaferAuthor Rebecca Shafer, JD, President of Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is a national expert in the field of workers compensation. She is a writer, speaker, and publisher. Her expertise is working with employers to reduce workers compensation costs, and her clients include airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing. She is the co-author of the #1 selling book on cost containment, Workers Compensation Management Program: Reduce Costs 20% to 50%. Contact:.

Contact: RShafer@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.

Workers’ Comp Roundup Blog: http://blog.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/

©2020 Amaxx LLC. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.

Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker, attorney, or qualified professional.

FREE DOWNLOAD: “9-Element Blueprint To Create Your Workers’ Comp Employee Brochure”

Filed Under: Communication with Employees

Related Articles

Big Employer Mistake In Work Comp is No Employee Rapport

Big Employer Mistake In Work Comp is No Employee Rapport

Small Communication Improvements Lead to Large Workers’ Comp Savings

Small Communication Improvements Lead to Large Workers’ Comp Savings

Train Supervisors to be Work Comp Advocates

Train Supervisors to be Work Comp Advocates

Remember What Mama Taught You For Work Comp Claimant Success

Remember What Mama Taught You For Work Comp Claimant Success

8 Strategies To Protect Organizations During the Next Phase of the Pandemic

8 Strategies To Protect Organizations During the Next Phase of the Pandemic

Are You Really Here for Me During Covid-19?

Are You Really Here for Me During Covid-19?

4 Part Framework to Communicate About Coronavirus

4 Part Framework to Communicate About Coronavirus

What to Say After an Employee is Injured at Work

What to Say After an Employee is Injured at Work

7 Steps to Building Better Work Habits and Employee Cooperation

7 Steps to Building Better Work Habits and Employee Cooperation

Easy Way To Avoid Attorney Involvement In Your Work Comp Claims

Easy Way To Avoid Attorney Involvement In Your Work Comp Claims

Confusion and Workers’ Comp Abbreviations Can Add to Costs

Confusion and Workers’ Comp Abbreviations Can Add to Costs

2 Ways To Help Injured Workers Get By With A Little Help From Their Friends

2 Ways To Help Injured Workers Get By With A Little Help From Their Friends

Free Download

9-Element Blueprint To Create Your Workers' Comp Employee Brochure - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Previous Post: « Avoid Settlement Document Landmines
Next Post: Why Hold Weekly Meetings With Injured Employees? »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FREE DOWNLOAD

9-Element Blueprint To Create Your Workers' Comp Employee Brochure - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Our Sponsors

Broadspire

Workers’ Comp 3rd-Party Administrator
 

Catastrophic Care Management, Complex Care, and Specialty Networks
 

Ametros

Post-Settlement Administration
 

Medicare Secondary Payer Services
 

Medcor

Injury Triage, Onsite Clinics

Read Our Award-Winning Blog

Blog Categories

Search Our Archive

Subscribe to Our FREE Newsletter

Footer

Search Our Archive

Search our continually growing archive of over 2500 articles about Workers' Comp issues.

Quiclinks

  • Calculators
  • Terms & Abbreviations
  • Glossary of WC Premium Terms
  • WC Resources
  • Best Practices
  • Industries

RSS Recent Blog Posts

  • 20 Unfair Claim Practices For Your Adjuster To Avoid
  • Use Vocational Coordination When Employees Are Unable To Return to Work
  • Implement These Safety Training Guidelines
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEE NEWSLETTER
Let Us Help You Stomp Down the High Cost of Workers' Comp!
Top of Page ↑
  • Home
  • Training Center
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Products
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Login
Copyright © 2021 Amaxx, LLC. All Rights Reserved. · Privacy Policy / Legal Notice