We all have to work for a living. But when life throws us a curveball, sometimes it affects our being able to work. And this is especially true when you get injured on the job.
Nothing is worse than the financial stress that comes along after you’re placed out of work due to an injury. But the good news is that if you take the right steps, you won’t have to suffer through a financial burden.
Studies have shown that there were 2.1 million nonfatal workplace injuries just in 2020 alone. And this number is considered to be much lower due to many people being out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, this is a high number of people who were left without work for an extended period of time.
If you’re recently been injured on the job, fortunately, there are several steps that you can take in order to get the compensation you need and get back on your feet.
Document Your Injuries
The first step after a workplace injury is going to be seeking medical attention. Obviously you’ll want to be treated for your injuries. But at the same time, getting treated also allows you to have official documentation of your injuries so that you can present this evidence to your HR department, or to file a worker’s compensation claim.
Additionally, depending on where you work, an accident report should have been written up by your supervisor, manager, or by the appropriate HR or security staff. And you should ask to receive an official copy of this report if available.
Documentation of injuries will also be essential if you need to file a lawsuit as well. And the more documentation you have, the easier it is for your attorney to handle your case and present evidence.
Contact Your Creditors
We all have bills to pay. And believe it or not, many of your creditors will be happy to work with you and keep you as a customer if you call them and attempt to make payment arrangements due to being out of work.
Many people live on a tight budget in today’s economy. And as of 2022, with the price of gas and groceries climbing due to several factors, keeping up with life requires us to maintain a financial obligation. After all, you have to feed and clothe yourself, and provide yourself with shelter. And being injured on the job can make this difficult.
A few actions you can take when you contact your creditors are:
- Ask for forgiveness
- Ask about a payment plan
- Push payments to the back end of a loan
- Ask for a grace period extension
- See if you can lower your payments
If anything, simply by calling your creditors to see where you stand and what your options are may actually give you peace of mind. And you never know until you ask, but creditors are people too and may understand your difficult situation and offer some form of leniency and allow you to recover from your injuries.
Concentrate On Healing
One of the best things that you can do after being injured is to follow your doctor’s advice and heal. And though the nature of your injuries will dictate how much time you’ll need to spend out of work, strictly following your doctor’s recommended advice will be the best path for recovery.
When you concentrate on your own health and wellbeing, you’ll find that there are many methods for speeding up or aiding your recovery. As such, a few ways to do this are as follows:
- Get plenty of rest
- Take medications as directed
- Seek out physical therapy
- Know your limits when moving around
- Don’t attempt to “tough it out”
- Check with your doctor regularly
- Take vitamins and eat a balanced diet
Even though you may need to wait to receive financial compensation, stressing over this will only make your healing process take longer. And this is because when we’re stressed, our immune system has a harder time doing its job. As such, ensure that you take the time to relax, heal yourself, and keep yourself from stressing out.
Getting injured on the job is no laughing matter. And though this can often be a life changing experience and present challenges that you weren’t prepared for, keep in mind that there is a process for getting everything sorted out. If you trust the process and do your part to get the ball rolling, you’ll likely be back to work before you even know it.
