Reasons Why You Should Always Report An Injury You Get At Work
Recently, the State requested an explanation from a company that manufactures plastic about why it did not report workplace injuries to the State’s Workers’ Compensation Board, which could result in their being fined upwards of $52,500. An investigation of the firm by the state revealed that it had not reported a minimum of twenty-one injuries in a timely fashion. The law dictates that companies report work-related injuries within ten days of their occurrence.
As a result, the business was commanded to show at a hearing and demonstrate that the company had actually followed the law by reporting the injuries. The investigation, however, revealed most of these cases had yet to be reported, and that they were dated as far back as the previous year. According to record, there were no prior cases of employers being brought up on these charges.
The option to penalize companies for not reporting their workers’ injuries was first instated in 1944, but research of the law revealed no prior case records of any companies being subjected to such penalization. An attorney representing the plastics firm, attempting to find an existing case, failed to find one. The firm’s lawyer is known to specialize in legal matters involving Workers’ Compensation.
None of the members of the board has yet made any comment pertaining to the allegations. The company’s human resource manager announced that they anticipate the hearing will bring closure to the charges. They also find hope in how the information already collected has been evaluated, and are hoping that they can discuss the allegations in further detail at the hearing.
The steelworkers union, together with several of the firm’s workers, alleges that the company has consciously under-reported injuries to Workers’ Compensation and to OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the federal government. A large amount of employees are viewing the company’s actions as an effort to save money. In situations where the workers were not allowed due to their injuries the manufacturer compensated them for their time off as well as paid medical expenses for them.
The problem comes in when the company doesn’t report the incident and therefore avoid the cost of compensating a worker whose injuries may continue to recur for many years after the initial accident, as well as getting out of an inspection. The Workers’ Compensation Board was presented with another sixty cases that involved other non work related injuries some of which stretched as far back as 1994. The company is said to have misunderstood what was required by the law, and agreed that some of the cases should have been filed sooner.
If the Workers’ Comp Board finds the company in violation of the law, they have it in their power to fine them as much as $2500 for every case that was in violation. These accusations are so serious that there could be criminal charges involved. The Worker’s Compensation Board has directed the case to the attention of the criminal fraud unit of the Attorney General.
An investigation is ongoing regarding allegations of under-reported injuries, including the most recent of four cases of workers who lost all or a portion of their fingers while working at the plant.
A former employee has alleged in a $350,000 lawsuit that the firm canceled her health insurance while she was on Workers’ Compensation as they at the same time were taking her payments for the premiums.
The Director of the United Steelworkers of America has indicated that the union demands a company-wide investigation into the allegations that have been surfacing regarding conditions in one of the plants. The company reportedly owns four additional mills in both Illinois and Indiana.
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