just looking for general California workers’ comp advice from people who have dealt with something similar.
Posting for someone close to me because we’re not sure what the best move is.
He was recently injured while working in California. He was performing a physical job when a piece of work equipment struck him around the head/ear area. The injury was significant enough that he went to the ER and needed treatment. He has also had some concerning symptoms afterward and has had to miss work while recovering.
The employer knew the injury happened at work. What makes the situation more concerning is that immediately after it happened, there were comments made about removing work clothing/not making it obvious that the injury happened while working. There is evidence/documentation of some of these conversations.
Since then, his boss has been repeatedly pressuring him to come back to work even though he is still recovering. The boss has made comments along the lines of, “You need to come to work or I’ll replace you.”
He hasn’t officially filed a workers’ comp claim yet.
He is basically stuck between two options in his mind:
- Not filing workers’ comp and hoping his boss/company will privately cover his medical expenses, missed work, and compensate him for the injury.
- Filing workers’ comp, but he’s scared that his employer will replace/fire him or make things difficult for him afterward.
He’s also considering going back to work because he’s afraid of losing the job. He seems to think that if he returns to work, then he shouldn’t/can’t file workers’ comp anymore.
My questions are:
- Does returning to work prevent someone from filing workers’ comp for an injury that already happened?
- Can an employer threaten to replace someone because they’re unable to work after a workplace injury?
- Is it a bad idea to rely on the employer promising to pay everything privately instead of opening a workers’ comp claim?
- If the employer already knows the injury happened at work, does the employee still need to formally report/file something?
- Should he speak with a workers’ comp attorney before agreeing to anything or returning to full-duty work?
- What should he be documenting right now in case the employer later denies what happened?
We’re mainly worried about him protecting his job while also not giving up any rights he may have. He doesn’t want to create problems with his employer, but I’m worried that waiting and relying on verbal promises could hurt him later.