Workers Compensation Law - A Quick Glance

The law states that in Oregon every employer must have workers compensation insurance. There is a common misconception that a company only needs this type of coverage if they operate in certain field (such as construction) or have over a certain numbers of employees. While that is true in some states no such waiver in Oregon exists. Every company must have it and show visible proof of it to their employees (poster in the break room is most common).If you are at work and get legitimately hurt on the job then you have the right to draw workers compensation benefits. That is the law. You will receive reimbursement for medical costs, treatment, time off to heal, and a portion of what you usually get paid.How bad the injury is will determine how long you are able to be off from work and your average weekly pay will determine how much you your "time-loss" payments are. Generally your pay while you are unable to work will be set at 2/3 (60%) of what your AWW, or average weekly wage is.When you get hurt on the job you need to file a form 801 with your employer. They in turn have five days to file the claim with their worker compensation provider. Your employer cannot prevent you from filing a claim nor can they fire, demote, or punish you for doing so. While it is extremely difficult to prove in court a person was let go because they filed a workers comp claim the civil consequences are severe if it can be proved they did.From the time the provider gets the claim they have sixty days to either approve or deny the claim. If they approve it then your benefits should start within three working days. If they deny it then you have the right to appeal it.It may take some time for the provider to approve your claim. A person usually does not want to wait sixty days for treatment. Go get the treatment you need and tell the doctor you go to that you have been injured while at work and have filled out a form 801. When it gets approved then the coverage will pay for any medical bills even ones that are retroactive. If it gets denied then your regular health care provider will have to pay for it (keep in mind you can appeal it).Also note that it is foolish to lie about your situation. Many workers compensation providers routinely hire the services of private investigators to see if you are really injured. They employ state-of-the-art surveillance techniques which allow them to check on people claiming to be "gravely" injured. There have been many cases where someone actually got injured at home or while playing sports and said it happened while at work. For this reason every claim, true or false, is checked for any irregularities.