Employee Rights after Work Injury

A work injury is a pretty common occurrence. Even though employers do their best to create a safe environment for people to work in, injuries are bound to happen. In case of any work-related injuries, you should be aware of your rights so that you can know how to proceed in such circumstances. 

Medical treatment

If you get injured at work, you have the right to seek medical treatment. In case your employer tries to prevent you from getting your rightful medical attention, they are going against the law. Most workplaces provide a trained first aid officer in case of an injury. The first step is to see this person, but then, you also need to visit your GP or any local A&E department so that you can get proper treatment. 

Record the details

It is important that you have written evidence of any work-related illness you may be experiencing and make sure your employer gets the written notification of it. This also goes for work-related injuries. You need to record the details in your employer’s accident book. Be careful about what you’re signing and make sure that you have all the accurate details stated in your record. 

Confirm your sick pay

Not every workplace offers full pay to employees who go on sick leave from work. This information can be found in the contract you sign for your employer. On the other hand, every employee has the right to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) in case their contract doesn’t cover full sickness pay. SSP may not be close to a living wage, but it’s still enough to help you get by. For these reasons, you need to check with your employer to see if they registered you for SSP.

Attend medical appointments

If returned to your work duties while still receiving outpatient treatments such as regular check-ups or physiotherapy, your employer is obligated to release you from work whenever you have to attend the same.

Seek light duties

This one applies to physical injuries as well as any type of psychological injuries such as PTSD or depression. If your work-related duties require you to do hard physical labour like carrying heavy stuff, climbing, or heavy lifting, your employer needs to help you adjust by giving you lighter duties during your recovery process. For instance, if you work in a heavy lifting capacity, but are now prevented from doing so due to your back injury, your employer can temporarily give you a desk job so that you can properly heal from your injury.

Claim compensation

You have every right to seek compensation and recover any losses such as lost income. Your employer is obligated to financially help you in this period. If you realise they have gone against your legal right, you have grounds for legal action against them. If it comes to this, you need to go looking for reliable tpd lawyers who will help you with the case and ensure you don’t get financially damaged.

You also have the right to make a personal injury claim in case of an injury or illness that was a result of your employer’s negligence. Your employer is legally responsible for creating a safe and secure environment in order to prevent both physical and psychological injuries of their employees.

Take time to recover

Lastly, the time you take to recover from injury is highly valuable to both you and your employer. By making sure you recover properly will enable you to get back to work in your full capacity. Your employer doesn’t have the right to pressure you into coming back to work before you feel fully recovered and ready to work again. If they do so and threaten to fire you if you don’t come back, you need to seek legal advice. You have the right to rest. Rushing back to work will only pose risk to your health as well as the health of your co-workers.

Conclusion

All things considered, if you get injured or ill at work you have every right to properly rest, to get medical attention and compensation for your injury. If your employer doesn’t meet these rights or refuses to give them in the first place, you need to find professional lawyers that will build you a stable case.