An employee who has been injured on the job is likely to experience a wide range of emotions. This can be especially true if they’ve never filed a workers’ compensation claim before. They’ll likely have questions about what will happen next, whether they’ll get their full salary and benefits while recovering from their injury, and more.
For many managers, this is all new territory — but that doesn’t mean you need to scramble for answers.
Here are five steps for how to handle employees worker’s compensation insurance claims:
Understand Your Responsibilities for Providing Workers’ Compensation Insurance
It is important that you understand the following:
- The law and your responsibilities as an employer
- The responsibilities of the insurance company
- Your rights as an employer
File a Claim as Soon as an Employee Is Injured
In order to ensure that your workers’ compensation claim is handled correctly, you should file it as soon after the injury occurs. This will help ensure that there are no mistakes on your part and give you time to change any workplace conditions that contributed to the accident before they can become problematic for future employees. Remember to keep all records related to the incident, be it medical records or even camera footage.
Understanding Coverage Limits and Exclusions
Knowing how to handle workers’ compensation claims is crucial to your business. Before you make a claim, ask your worker’s compensation insurance agent what the limits are and what the exclusions are. These vary depending on the company’s policy and can affect your company in many different ways.
Also be aware of fraud when making claims. This can occur when an employee makes up an injury or illness to get out of work or simply because they want additional money for something that is not covered by your company’s policies (like pain medication). If you suspect it might be a case of fraud, report it immediately so that there’s proper investigation.
Analyze Data To Identify Other Problem Areas in the Workplace
Data analysis is a critical part of managing the risk of workers’ compensation claims. If you’re using data to manage your risk, you need to know how to analyze it and make sense of the results. Analyzing data can help you identify problem areas in the workplace that may lead to workers’ compensation claims.
You’ll want to look for patterns: do certain employees or departments see more injuries than others? Are there particular tasks or duties that put employees at increased risk for injury? Do certain types of injuries occur frequently? This analysis will help you pinpoint areas where changes need to be made so that employees are safe on the job.
Learn From Previous Mistakes To Prevent Future Ones
The first step in establishing a strong worker’s compensation program is to learn from past mistakes. Conduct frequent audits of your workplace, including safety inspections and employee interviews. Use these audits to identify problem areas that need addressing and make changes to policies and procedures accordingly.
You may also want to perform more frequent safety inspections than are required by law in order to encourage employees to be more proactive about keeping themselves safe on the job.
In Conclusion
Workers’ compensation insurance is an essential part of managing a business. It’s important that you understand your responsibilities as an employer and take the steps as highlighted in this column to ensure that your workers are protected from workplace injuries.
