Let’s take a look at a hypothetical situation. Let’s say you’re having a bad week. You’re carrying your piping hot coffee through the warehouse when you trip over some cables that were being improperly stored.

You fall, hot coffee burns your hands, ruins your shirt, and your morning, and you land pretty hard. In a huff, you pick yourself up off the ground, you mutter a few choice words, and decide this is the last straw.

You quit.

A few days later, you’re still hurting. You go to the doctor, who says you’ve got a herniated disc and second-degree burns. You’re going to need physical therapy and pain management, which means you’ll be out of work for a while.

You might be wondering, “Can I still get workers’ compensation if I quit my job?”.

The short answer is yes, you can still qualify… but if you haven’t quit, don’t.

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When you’re injured on the job and have a worker’s compensation claim, your claim really has two aspects, the medical portion, and the indemnity portion.

• The medical portion: This part covers your doctor visits, treatment, and anything you need to help you heal or feel better. The goal is to help you recover so you can go back to work.
• Wage Replacement (also called indemnity): This part pays you money if you can’t work while you’re recovering.

These two parts are connected, but they’re also handled a bit differently.

So, you can quit your job and still get workers’ comp, but leaving your job could affect the amount or type of benefits you get.

Let’s revisit the example above:

Say your job injury is approved for workers’ comp. That means:

• They’ll cover your medical treatment, like therapy.

• They’ll also pay you about two-thirds of your regular paycheck while you’re off work.

But then your employer says, “If you want to keep your health insurance, you’ll have to pay the full COBRA price”—and that can be really expensive.

So, you think: I’m not totally unable to work. I can still do some lighter tasks.
You end up taking a part-time job with a friend. It doesn’t pay as much, but it’s easier on your body and comes with health insurance.

This brings us to our next question.

What happens to my open worker’s work comp claim if I get a new job?

Well, the fact that you left your job and took a new one should have no effect on your entitlement to medical care. Your new job isn’t aggravating your back, and it’s not preventing you from attending your physical therapy sessions.

So, the worker’s comp adjuster should have no problem continuing to pay for medical care.

The other aspect of the claim, however, will be impacted.

Now that you’re receiving wages, you certainly will see a reduction in the indemnity benefits you’re receiving.

Those weekly checks that were $400 a week might drop to $150 a week now since you’re receiving wages from a new job. You may even see the checks stop completely if, for example, your old employer claims that they would have offered you a temporary, light-duty job at your pre-accident wage rate if you hadn’t quit.

Other things to consider.

Quitting your job could also hurt you when it comes time to settle your claim. The BWC prefers that a settlement agreement includes having the injured employee resign from their job. We take a strong stand for our clients in this regard and when clients don’t want to resign from their jobs, we try extremely hard to take that option off the table.

Another thing to consider is that the BWC or your employer tends to drag their feet on approving medical care, especially when they’re not paying someone weekly checks. When they know they are going to be paying a claimant until they recover, they have more motivation to give the medical care that will get you back to work.

Given all the factors that go into a worker’s compensation claim, it’s wise to consult with a worker’s comp attorney before taking steps that might impact your claim. Workers comp is all we do; give us a call.