Injury Reported 6 mo later!

We are a manufacturing plant in S.Florida. We laid off about half of our staff starting in May through July, temporary 6 mo layoff, subject to recall, or termination after 6 months. So far no callbacks, and no real bright forecast of the possibility of callbacks.

This morning I received a call from one of those that will probably be terminated on Dec 4th, and his health insurance will end at the end of December and Cobra begins in January. He first wanted to find out if he could have his health benefits extended the way they are offered now, i.e. not Cobra, which is so much more expensive, and I told him that we could not do that or we would be setting a precendent. He then went on to say that his medical condition, some sort of a rash/condition on his hand due to the use of coolants (at work), was directly related to his job, and he had not wanted to report it because he didn't want to cause trouble by filing a workers comp. I reminded him that we had repeatedly told all employees, on a regular basis, in addition to having such posters posted throughout the plant, encouraging employees to always report anything that they thought was work-related immediately to a f.aid responder, so that we could take care of them.

Our company has never discouraged anyone from reporting injuries, and all employees are aware of this. I reminded him that he really should have reported it within, at the very latest, the first 30 days, and our policy is actually within the first 7 days. I told him that I wasn't sure if our carrier would accept it, but I know full well that if his doctor has all supporting documentation stating that his condition is definitely due to use of coolant, he most likely would get covered. I want to do the right thing, but I just want to make sure I'm doing the best for both the company & the employee, and I feel that this employee is now demanding something because his time is running out, and he should have reported it when it occurred, but at the same time it could in fact be true that it should be a workers compensation case.

What rights to we have here? Any advice would be appreciated.

Ana

Comments

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  • The first thing I would do is to confirm the time requirement for filing a w/comp claim in Florida. Many states permit a claim to be filed within a 12 mo period, so you must first determine what statuatory requirement exist for your state. My guess is you're probably on the hook for the injury.
  • I'm in Florida too. The employee had 30 days to report the claim. There are few circumstances like the employer knew, the injury could not be identified as work-related, but notifies the employer within 30 days of the medical opinion, the employee did not know of the obligation to notify the injury, or other exceptional circumstance.

    If the employee's injury does not fall into those cirucmstances then I don't see that workers comp would provide benefits. You might want to check with your insurance carrier.
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