People can file workers' compensation claims after being terminated

Most employees are not familiar with the fact that they might be eligible for worker's compensation claims, even after termination of employment. However, the process and guidelines are not as straightforward as they might seem. 

Are you one of those employees? Because if you are, you're in luck today. Today we will unravel some misconceptions about workers' compensation claims after being terminated from employment. 

People can file workers' compensation claims after being terminated

Employers may think that wrongfully terminating employees can save them from paying the worker's compensation, but they might not realize they have another thing coming their way. 

Workers' Compensation Claim after Termination

If the employee received compensation claims before his termination, he would still receive them after the termination. The employee would continue to receive the compensation claims until the limit has been reached or if the doctor gives him the go-ahead to work. If one of these two things happens, the employee will no longer be on the list.  

However, In California, an employer can reject an employee's compensation claim if the employee fills it out after the termination of employment. The rule is known as post-termination defense. It protects the employer from bogus work-related injuries or claims after their recent termination. 

To protect the rights of employees, the state of California has introduced a post-termination claim form.

The employee must fill that out to apply for a worker's compensation claim. In this form, he would have to prove the following conditions. 

1. The employer knew about the workplace injury before firing the employee. 
2. The injury was due to repetitive mentally or physically traumatic activities in which the employee was indulged at the workplace or, 
3. The employee got the injury after being fired, but before his last day at work. 
4. Any medical records the employee has that show the injury happened before termination. 

Can my compensation claims be denied because of my termination?

The short and simple answer to this question is Yes. Your cause of termination can also be the reason for your compensation claim denial. It usually happens when the employee is found guilty of breaching the employment agreement. 

The following conditions can be the reason for termination and denial of compensation claims. 

1. The employee was injured off-site during his working hours. 
2. The employee received the injury while being a party to a crime. 
3. The injury was due to any banned or illegal activities and is not a part of the employment. 

Understanding Retaliation

Employers are often seen to retaliate against the employee if they want to, or they did file a worker's compensation claim. Although this is prohibited, the state of California has introduced some guidelines to prevent the retaliation of the employer against the employee. 

Retaliation not only refers to the termination of employment. It can be in different forms and types.

Below we have discussed some of the conducts that also lie within the scope of retaliation. 

1. Demoting the employee or decreasing his income.
2. Deliberately including the employee in a layoff.
3. Asking the employee to utilize his vacation time to treat the injury. 
4. Transferring the employee to a different department, typically to one with less growth and benefits. 

If you find yourself in a similar situation where your employer is retaliating against you for filling in a worker's compensation claim, you must file a wrongful termination lawsuit. You might be able to get back wages, an increase in worker's compensation claims, and more benefits. You may also ask to be reinstated to your old job. 

All the workers who were terminated because they filled out a worker's compensation form have some legal rights. We don't want you to suffer from huge medical bills only because you were not familiar with your rights. 

To conclude

Denied claims are one thing, but if you are not familiar with your rights, then the denial of your compensation claim will be on you.

You should be familiar with your rights and relevant legal guidelines so that you can fight your battles. Also, you should look for a competent attorney to guide you throughout the process because the employer and their insurance companies would try their best to tangle you between legal terminologies so that they could find a way of not giving you compensation claims.