Workman's Comp Question
 

Twisted my shoulder carrying my bag up the stairs in Paris. Did that 9 years ago and ended up having to have orhto work on it. So this time I want to head that off by seeing a specialist now.

So my question is if I choose to go the Workman's Comp rule, what should I be aware of? Are there any reasons to do that versus just calling in sick and using my medical? Someone said they pay 100%, but with a $20 copay, it isn't that big of deal. Are there other reasons to consider this?

Thanks for any inputs.

Depends on which state you are in when injured, residences, and/or based. For example, in CA, you are better off using your personal health benefits. It took three years for me to get a required surgery that eventually restored the shoulder to limited function. Had I had the surgery immediately, I probably would have had a full recovery. If I had used my personal health insurance, even though I would have been the deductible, I would have come out far ahead in finances, disability status, and senority status.

Another drawback, depending on the rules of your state, the company sends you to their doc for the first 30 days unless you specify a doc before having been injured. Do you want "Joe Schmoe generic company doc," or your doc that already knows you and previous issues?

More, if you do have to miss work, injury on duty leave is far better than sick leave, if you don't have any sick leave and/or if sick leave is considered an attendance issue.

Again, your state will vary, but also consider that you can get immediate treatment by your own doc, then convert that into a worker's comp injury. Know your laws before attempting this.

Good luck!

I've used WC in Memphis for a back operation. I did not have to use a company Dr. and you also get 163 hrs of sick leave to use per injury, before you must use your own sick leave. Once you have been out for one entire bid period, or miss a monthly bid due to being on WC, then you are put in Pay Only status, and charged RLG or Blg (not sure which) until you run out of the 163 hrs, then are charged your sick leave until you run out of disability sick.

Be sure that the injury is not considered your fault though. I have heard of the company stating that while climbing the stairs, you must keep one hand on the guard rail and only carry one bag at a time. They have all of they gates on camera at MEM, but I don't know if they tape the action, or just live video feed.

Overall, it was not much hassle, just have to keep the WC company that Fedex has hired in the paperwork loop.

Good luck which ever way you choose.:cool:

This is the part that causes uneasiness in this old legal aid lawyer. As I understand it, Worker's Comp is for injury sustained while at work or in the course of doing work for the employer. So if you get hurt playing weekend basketball, WC is not the way to go. WC will kick in when there is an injury. I am not sure it will cover preventive measures, as you seem to imply above. Perhaps I am misunderstanding your specific situation, and my apologies if so.

It sounded like you said it was the same injury as what you did 9 years ago. If it was, I believe they will deny any WC based on a "previous injury", if they find out about it, that is.

Thanks for the information. For the record, what happened 9 years ago was due to the brain bag (left arm). I didn't get it treated for 3 months and by then the damage was done that required outpatient hospital treatment. That was not fun, and you can't file workman's comp for it because it is beyond FedEx's 48 hours of reporting.

So when I felt the pain in my RIGHT shoulder this time, I don't plan on waiting 3 months to see if it was bad or not. That's what I meant about deja vu for the injury.

Given the comments, I'm not sure if its really worth the hassle to use WC when I've got plenty of sick bank. But I'll check Colorado laws and give the FedEx WC expert a call when I get stateside and go from there.

But thanks for the inputs.

Had a back thing a few months back (lost a fight with a LIDO bag). Your Flt Ops Admin person is your first contact since they fill out the initial paperwork and answer your initial questions. Reporting it sooner rather than later, the claim is blessed quicker (minimum added verification required).

Biggest problem I found was finding a Doc (a chiropractor in my case) who accepted WC claims-- my regular guy didn't. Pros: no co-pays; sick bank stays intact till the 163 runs out, then you can tap your disability bank. Cons: new doc; use sick bank w/copays to keep own doc.

Not domestic. I know at least some of the international destinations are also drag your own bag.

Actually, the main reason I would consider filing a Workman's Compensation claim is that if there are extensive ($$$) procedures to be done, like shoulder surgery or other high cost operations, or multiple procedures over a long time, these would all be covered by WC and therefore would not decrement your lifetime total available. It sounds silly, being that our total maximum payout is 2 Million, but one never knows.