What If I Don’t Follow My Workers’ Comp Doctor’s Work Restrictions?
If you’ve been injured on the job, your treating physician might restrict you from performing specific job-related duties while clearing you to perform others. Failing to adhere to these restrictions could jeopardize your ability to receive workers’ compensation benefits. At the same time, your employer should not try to force you back onto the job if you’re unable to perform it safely.
If you suspect you may have violated work restrictions or have questions about your responsibilities, get in touch with an experienced workers’ comp attorney from Stewart Law Offices right away. We can review your case, advise you on your options, and support your claim throughout the entire process.
What Are Work Restrictions?
If you’ve sustained a work-related injury, you should seek prompt medical attention from a workers’ compensation doctor to diagnose your injuries. Your doctor can determine your prognosis, lay out a treatment plan, and give you medical restrictions on your ability to perform job tasks.
Medical restrictions impose limitations on your ability to do certain work to ensure you do not overexert yourself, aggravate your work injuries, and cause permanent damage. Work restrictions allow your body to heal while also enabling you to return to work in some capacity.
Work restrictions might limit your ability to perform specific tasks, including:
- Lifting restrictions: After a workplace injury, your doctor may limit how much weight you can lift or carry or restrict how frequently you can lift heavy items. Lifting restrictions impose a weight limit in pounds or describe how frequently you can lift or carry items.
- Posture/movement restrictions: Doctors and physical therapists may limit the movements you can do at work, such as bending over, kneeling, squatting, climbing, or sitting/standing for extended periods.
- Repetitive motion restrictions: Your doctor may restrict you from performing repetitive tasks that make you likelier to reaggravate your injury the more frequently you perform them.
- Working hours: Your doctor may require you to switch to a part-time schedule, have shorter workweeks, shift your start/end times, or take more frequent breaks after suffering a job-related injury.
- Environmental restrictions: Your work restrictions may preclude you from working in environments with stressful conditions, such as excessive noise, dust, fumes, or extreme temperatures that could cause you harm. Your doctor may also require you to use ergonomic tools like specialized chairs or relocate your workstation to another part of the workplace.
These restrictions are intended to protect injured workers from further injury. You should follow your doctor’s advice to prevent permanent impairment. If you have any questions about these restrictions, Stewart Law Offices offers free consultations to all new prospective clients.
Why Are Work Restrictions Important?
Working within limitations has certain critical benefits rather than waiting to be medically cleared to return to work without restrictions. Returning to work, even in a part-time or light-duty position within your work restrictions, shows your employer that you’ve taken your medical care and recovery seriously. Doing some work for your employer can reduce the costs of workers’ comp benefits if you can continue to be productive and incentivize your employer to resolve your workers’ comp claim favorably.
If you refuse to return to work despite being cleared by your doctor to do so within medical restrictions, your employer might accuse you of malingering and seek to dismiss your workers’ compensation case. Rather than put your benefits at risk, try being upfront with your doctor. If working within your prescribed work restrictions continues to cause you pain or discomfort, schedule another appointment with your doctor to explain your situation. Your doctor can modify your work restrictions or determine that you cannot perform any work duties yet. Keep your employer informed of your work restrictions and whether they’re helping.
You may also need to refrain from work duties or personal activities that exceed your work restrictions. Pushing yourself to work outside your restrictions may signal to your employer that you can handle more strenuous work. Although you must accept modified duty work under the South Carolina workers’ compensation system or North Carolina workers’ compensation system, you can challenge an offered modified duty role if you believe you cannot do the work without pain or difficulty.
What If an Employer Cannot Accommodate Work Restrictions?
If your doctor clears you to return to work with restrictions on your ability to perform job tasks, your employer must assign duties consistent with your prescribed limitations. However, your employer may not have open positions or available work within your doctor’s work restrictions. Your employer also does not have to offer modified duty work if accommodations are too costly or difficult to implement.
If your employer cannot accommodate your work restrictions, they cannot require you to return to work. They must pay you wage loss benefits if you cannot return to work (with or without restrictions) or until you exhaust your benefits under your workers’ compensation claim. Furthermore, your employer cannot force you to work outside your medical restrictions or retaliate against you for refusing work outside your restrictions. A workers’ comp lawyer can help you defend your rights and interests should any of the situations apply to you.
How an Experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorney Can Help with Your Claim
If you’ve suffered workplace injuries that restrict your ability to perform job tasks, let the legal team at Stewart Law Offices help you with your workers’ compensation claim by:
- Reviewing your medical records and communicating with your doctors to understand the nature and scope of your work restrictions
- Communicating with your employer to ensure they understand your restrictions and determine whether they can offer you a modified-duty role to accommodate those restrictions
- Helping you obtain vocational rehabilitation or retraining if necessary
- Negotiating toward a workers’ compensation settlement
- Taking your case to a formal workers’ compensation hearing or court to defend your health, rights, and best interests
You deserve the benefits you’re entitled to under the law, including compensation for your medical expenses and lost wages. We want to help you access them without having to put your future well-being at risk. Contact Stewart Law Offices today for a free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer to understand your legal options for seeking time off or work accommodations for your medical restrictions. We look forward to meeting you and advising you on your rights.