Report Your Minnesota Work-Related Injury

There are over 1.8 million workplace injuries reported in the United States every year. A third of these injuries result in lost time from work. The bigger problem is that up to twice as many, or as many as 3.6 million workplace injuries go unreported every year!

There are many reasons an injured worker may not report his or her injury: fear of being fired or retaliated against, wanting to avoid being seen as “difficult,” not wanting to look like a “wimp,” not being aware of their rights under workers’ compensation, not wanting to deal with the workers’ compensation system, not being aware that it is a covered workers’ compensation injury, or being asked by their employer not to report the injury. Almost invariably, it is in your best interest to report your work injuries! 

Failure to report your injury can potentially ruin your workers’ compensation case, and bar you from receiving workers’ compensation benefits, such as medical expense benefits, wage loss benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, and/or rehabilitation benefits. If your unreported work injury worsens, and you can’t work anymore, and you need extensive medical care, it’s far more difficult to try to go back and time and allege that your injury was work-related months or years after the fact.

Even if you are able to subsequently prove, after an extended period of time, that your injury was work-related, if you failed to report the injury to your employer, you may still be barred from recovering some kinds of workers’ compensation benefits.

Here’s a real life case: I recently spoke with a gentleman who recently underwent extensive neck surgery. His doctors are telling him he will never work again. He injured his neck at work. As I’m talking to him, I’m thinking to myself that this is a clear-cut case, and he will be entitled to benefits to cover his medical expenses, and his time off work.

Then he drops the bomb: He liked his job, and he thought that he might lose his job if he reported that his injury was work-related. So, he told his manager that he got hit by a car.

*Head-smack* 

I may be able to salvage his case, I may not. I’m going to try. By trying to be the “good guy,” and not reporting that his injury was work-related, he very may well have ruined his chances at getting the workers’ compensation benefits he would clearly otherwise be entitled to.

Moral of the story: If you’re hurt on the job, report your injury. At bottom line, by failing to report your injury, or being dishonest about the circumstances of your injury, you are only hurting yourself. Should your injury worsen to the point where you’re no longer able to do your job, or if you find yourself needing extensive medical care, and you failed to report your injury, you’ve seriously jeopardized your ability to successfully claim the workers’ compensation benefits you’re entitled to. Reporting your injury protects YOU.

If you have an on-the-job injury in Minnesota, and have questions about reporting your injury, contact Meuser & Associate at 877-746-5680, or click here to send us an email for a free, no-obligation case consultation.