Workers Compensation

No! Ohio workers cannot be fired or suffer any other negative impact from filing a workers’ compensation claim or suffering a work injury. If you are an Ohio worker that suffered any kind of retaliation including but not limited to:

• Termination or discharge from employment;
• Suspension with or without pay;
• Reduction in hours, pay, or benefits;
• Discipline;
• A suspiciously sudden application of an attendance policy or other work rules against the injured worker; or
• Any other adverse employment action.

The State of Ohio takes retaliation against those that file workers’ compensation claims or suffer workers’ compensation injuries seriously. If proven true, the retaliation victims will both be reinstated to their previous job and get backpay for the time they would have been employed if not for the employer’s illegal retaliation.

If you have suffered retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim or for suffering a work injury, immediately call the Hurm Law Firm at (216) 860-1922. The consultation is free and we love making employer’s pay for their foolish vengefulness.

It is a national trend that major corporations pretend that their workers are “independent contractors” instead of employees. These corporations claim they are giving their workers freedom, but what they are really doing is denying their workers unemployment, workers’ compensation, and other benefits and saving millions of dollars and shortchanging their workers.

Thankfully, many of these corporations are sloppy and while they call their workers “independent contractors,” they actually are treating them as employees. And if you are treated as an employee, you ARE an employee. There is a seven-factor test to determine if you are an employee or independent contractor. Construction workers have their own twenty-factor test. For both, the central question is who controls the work you perform and how you perform it.

For non-construction industries, the factors considered include whether the company or worker controls these aspects of work. The relevant aspects are:

1. Work hours;
2. Work processes and procedures;
3. Who is furnishing the material and goods;
4. Method of payment and how paid, whether by the hour, day, job, etc.;
5. If the work performed is performed outside the employer’s regular business;
6. If the worker has self-paid expenses and can incur a profit or loss; and
7. Whether there is a significant investment in a business and the worker is not merely providing labor.

If the company controls all these aspects, the worker is an employee. If the worker controls all these aspects, the worker is an independent contractor.

For construction workers, there is a twenty-factor test:

1. The person is required to comply with instructions from the other contracting party regarding the manner or method of performing services;
2. The person is required by the other contracting party to have particular training;
3. The person’s services are integrated into the regular functioning of the other contracting party;
4. The person is required to perform the work personally;
5. The person is hired, supervised, or paid by the other contracting party;
6. A continuing relationship exists between the person and the other contracting party that contemplates continuing or recurring work even if the work is not full time;
7. The person’s hours of work are established by the other contracting party;
8. The person is required to devote full time to the business of the other contracting party;
9. The person is required to perform the work on the premises of the other contracting party;
10. The person is required to follow the order of work set by the other contracting party;
11. The person is required to make oral or written reports of progress to the other contracting party;
12. The person is paid for services on a regular basis such as hourly, weekly, or monthly;
13. The person’s expenses are paid for by the other contracting party;
14. The person’s tools and materials are furnished by the other contracting party;
15. The person is provided with the facilities used to perform services;
16. The person does not realize a profit or suffer a loss as a result of the services provided;
17. The person is not performing services for a number of employers at the same time;
18. The person does not make the same services available to the general public;
19. The other contracting party has a right to discharge the person; and
20. The person has the right to end the relationship with the other contracting party without incurring liability pursuant to an employment contract or agreement.

Ohio Revised Code 4123.01(A)(1)(c).

If your answer to most of the questions is yes, then you are probably an employee.  If your answer to most of the questions is no, then you are probably an independent contractor.

While these tests are not as simple as determining whether or not the majority of factors lead toward an employee or independent contractor, the more factors that lean one way or another the more likely the outcome will prevail. These tests are complicated and many questions can arise taking the test. If you have any questions, feel free to call the Hurm Law Firm at (216) 860-1922 and ask for a free consultation regarding this test and your status as an employee or independent contractor.

If your employer is complying with the law, then your workers’ compensation claim should not affect them much at all. Employer’s premiums they pay to the state are based on lost wage payments the state is required to make on their workers’ behalf. The employer completely controls how much they are harmed by your claim because they can avoid the state making any lost wage payments by simply continuing to pay you while you are out injured.

That said, many Ohio corporations still try to convince their workers not to file a workers’ compensation claim when they suffer a work injury. Many of the excuses they give are either lies, deeply disadvantageous for workers, or even criminal. But many corporations do not care. Some of their excuses are:

• The employer does not have workers’ compensation coverage: This is unlawful. An Ohio company is required to have workers compensation coverage through the state or a private insurance company. If the company has failed to do this, that is not the workers’ problem. The worker still has workers’ compensation rights.  The injured workers can still file their claim and it will be the company that will need to pay retroactive premiums. DO NOT EVER fail to file a claim simply because your employer has been irresponsible.
• The employer is misinformed about the law: Frequently, an employer will claim that the injury was your fault. This is nonsense. It does not matter whose fault your injury is, so long as you were at work or working for the company and injured yourself. Also, some employers will call you a liar and claim you did not actually injury yourself. This is also nonsense. Make sure you speak with all witnesses to your injury to ensure they will speak on your behalf and then speak with your doctor. Most doctors know the types of injuries they see for specific types of accidents. This is called the mechanism of injury and can frequently prove your injury is legitimate.
• The employer is concerned that their premiums will rise: The company is misinformed. The company’s premiums do not need to increase at all if they simply agree to continue to pay any injured workers their regular pay. If the company tells you this is why they don’t want you to file a claim, tell them they can avoid all premium increases if they simply continue to pay you.
• The employer asks you to put the work injury on your health insurance: This is illegal. It’s called insurance fraud and if an employer ever suggests you do this, you should leave that company’s employment as soon as you reasonable can because they do not care about you. They are asking you to perform a criminal act that also denies you the lost wages and lump sum permanent partial disability payment you are lawfully owned for your work injury.

If your employer tries to convince you to not file a workers’ compensation claim, you should also know that retaliating against a worker for filing a workers’ compensation claim is unlawful and you are protected. These issues are serious, and if you face these issues you should contact the Hurm Law Firm immediately and get a free consultation by calling (216) 860-1922.

Absolutely! Under Ohio law, a worker has the right to pick their own doctor. Period. The ability to switch doctors is important, especially if you are seeing the doctor your employer recommended.

Many employers will give you a recommendation that you should go to a doctor of their choice. Many of the employer-chosen doctors are employer-biased. These doctors get most of their patients from employer referrals and generally try and keep the employer happy by returning the worker back to work as soon as possible, regardless of the workers’ long-term wellness.

For an example, the Hurm Law Firm handled a case where an employer-recommended doctor told an employee with THREE broken bones that they could return to work in three days. This terrible medical advice could have caused the worker nerve damage and a long-term disability. Thankfully that workers’ union knew about the Hurm Law Firm and we sent him to a foot specialist that was not employer-biased. The foot specialist had the worker in treatments and physical therapy for over a year, all while the worker was paid benefits throughout the recovery from his work injury.

If you are going to the doctor your employer recommended, give the Hurm Law Firm a call at (216) 860-1922. We will give you a free referral to a doctor that is not employer-biased. It is vital that you trust your doctor and the only way you can do that is to speak with a doctor without a hidden agenda. Call the Hurm Law Firm today.

You can absolutely change attorneys at any point during your workers’ compensation claim. That said, the Hurm Law Firm does not recommend doing so unless you are very unhappy and/or the attorney is showing signs of incompetence such as:

• Missing hearings;
• Taking more than a week to respond to inquiries; or
• Taking longer than a week to issue benefits you have been awarded.

If none of these issues are present, it is generally best to keep the same attorney throughout the claim. This is because your current attorney should have formed relationships with the key individuals in your case such as the doctors, claim representatives, and the other side’s representatives. Those relationships should speed up the process and bring quicker results for you.

That said, if you ever want to make a change the process is as simple as filling out an R2 form [link: https://www.bwc.ohio.gov/downloads/blankpdf/r-2.pdf] and retainer agreement with a new attorney or law firm. If you have questions about this process or would like to switch to the Hurm Law Firm, feel free to call us at (216) 860-1922.

If you injured yourself at work, insurance does not cover your injury. That is because the workers’ compensation system is built to help the victims of work injuries. If you lie and say a work injury is not a work injury so that your health insurance will cover it, then you have committed insurance fraud. Under Ohio Revised Code 2913.47, insurance fraud is either a misdemeanor or felony depending on the seriousness of your injury.

This is not a game worth playing. If you injured yourself at work, tell your doctor the truth. If your employer told you to lie, do not do it and find a better employer. The workers’ compensation system is nothing to be afraid of and is, frankly, a lot better for workers. If a work injury is covered by insurance, the worker loses their right to:

• Recover any unpaid wages for time you missed from work; and
• The right to a lump sum payment called a permanent partial disability payment.

Having your health insurance pay for your claim is illegal and will cost you thousands of dollars in benefits. Do not do this.