In 2022 alone, 61,684 workers’ compensation claims were filed in Florida, and over $1.6 billion in benefits were paid out to injured workers. When you get injured on the job, your number one priority is probably recovering from your injuries. This is the right way to approach it – even if you want to get back to work as soon as possible, recovering fully from these workplace incidents is crucial for your future health and economic safety. Rushing back to work before you’re completely recovered can result in significant problems, which is why there are laws in place to make sure that one can do so.
Physical Risks Of Returning Before You Recover
Going back to work before fully recovering poses several significant physical risks, such as:
- Re-injuring yourself: Re-injury is one of the biggest risks of trying to work before fully recovering. If you have a broken bone that hasn’t fully mended, for example, it can break under stress. Other types of injuries that haven’t gotten the chance to fully heal can also be re-aggravated and set back the recovery process. This can also result in the injury getting worse than it was originally, as the body remains vulnerable when it is under stress and makes it easier for the same injury to occur – but potentially in a more severe manner.
- Secondary injuries: When you are still healing from an injury, you may change how you perform tasks or get around in order to adapt to your injury. This instinct often leads to overcompensation in other parts of the body. If a worker hurts his right ankle, he might place more weight on the left one, resulting in strains or overuse injuries on that side.
- Long-term problems down the road: Failing to allow an on-the-job injury to heal fully can have lifelong repercussions like chronic pain or even disabilities that hinder an individual from leading their lives like before.
Economic Risks
Most people want to get back to work as soon as possible so they can make money. Unfortunately, this can backfire and jeopardize your financial situation in the following ways:
- You could lose your workers’ compensation benefits: By going back to work too soon, you could be jeopardizing your workers’ compensation benefits. Workers’ compensation is engineered to help those who can’t work due to on-the-job injuries. If you go back to work before being medically cleared, then the insurance companies or employers may claim that the injured party doesn’t need those benefits as they are able to be back to work. Prematurely returning to work can end up reducing or stopping these crucial funds at a vulnerable time in your life, even if the injury hasn’t fully healed.
- They may not cover future medical treatments if the injury gets worse: Even if you feel fine, the injury could get worse – especially if it wasn’t healed in the first place. The employers and insurance companies may refuse to cover future costs of therapies, surgeries, or prolonged treatments because you were the one to make the choice to go back to work and exacerbate the injuries.
- You may lose work due to reduced working capacity: You may not be able to perform the way you normally can if you aren’t fully recovered. If you’re not producing like you used to, your employer may cut your hours or even demote you, reducing your wages.
Contact Us Today
Recovering fully should be the first thing on your mind before going back to work. If you or somebody you love was injured on the job, call Asnis Srebnick & Kaufman to consult with an experienced Florida workers’ comp attorney today.
