Broken Foot

[Taters]

My daughter in law broke her foot on the job on Friday, Sept 6,2008. She is being told that she needs to return to work on light duty on Sept 10, 2008. Is this normal for the injured person to be required to be at work to continue to collect Workman's Comp? I feel that this company is trying to establish that she wasn't injured enough to stay off work until her foot heals, by requiring her to return to work so soon after the injury. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Taters

[RNvic]

Taters- If the company that she works for has light duty or she is able to do her job with a broken foot then she needs to go to work. If the doctor has released her to return to work then she must go or benefits will stop. Now with that said, if the doctor has not released her to return to work then she needs to take her boss a note from the doctor with restrictions or off work script.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

There is no hanky - panky going on. Employer wishes to get her to work, is all. Employer pays her, and wc pays the medical. Being at work is better for any injured employee anyway. It makes getting back into the work grove much easier when allowed to return to full duty is all. It's a very good program if the injured worker can handle it is all. If they become in too much pain or anything, they tell the doctor and ask for restrictions to be be changed is all. It can be kind of easy.

[1171]

the employer/carrier is allowed to control/manage/reduce their work comp costs by providing lite or modified work upon approval of the physician.

[sparkey]

Exactly what BB said. When I was first injured I was sent back to work with one arm. I was a phlebotomist. That was impossible to do any type of work in a lab one handed. The pain was tremendous and I drove 1 hour to work.

If she goes back to work with a broken leg, I am sure there must be modified duty to sit/depending what her job is. It is good to be able to go back to work as being out can cause massive depression, low self esteem etc. I would of loved being able to do my job still and totally agree with getting back to work ASAP.

If the pain gets bad, ask for medication to be able to stay at work. It is not that they do not want to pay for her to be out, but to keep her in the workforce. It can get very nasty if you stay out of work to long. I wish her the best.