First Things

"Skedsvold & White
Join us on Facebook
So, your employee has had an injury, or says that they've had an injury. What do you do? What you do in the first ten minutes after an injury happens will, in large part, set the course of that claim. The good news is that the right thing to do is the best thing to do. As you might expect then, the wrong course of action is the one that's going to turn around and bite you in the backside later. So, what's the right thing to do? Simple human kindness needs to be the Employer's first impulse. There will be time for cynicism later if the facts warrant but you will never have another chance to manage not only the expectations of the injured worker but to prepare your eventual defense. When the injury is reported, your first action is to address the medical needs of that worker. In states with employer control of the identity of the medical providers, addressing the medical needs establishes the condition of the employee at that moment and, if appropriate, provides the employer the opportunity for drug testing to establish the employee's sobriety at the time of the injury. The employer who did not take that initial step of providing medical care has sacrificed the chance to develop contemporaneous medical evidence. Next up...investigating the injury.