Notice to Your Employer
When you experience an on-the-job injury, you should tell
your employer - GIVE NOTICE - promptly. NOTICE IS NOT REQUIRED TO BE IN WRITING.
Kansas law requires that notice be given within 10 days of the date of accident,
although in some cases you may have "just cause" for notifying the employer
after 10 days and before 75 days. If you have experienced a specific trauma on a
specific date - for example, a fall - your date of accident is easily
identified. In other cases, however, where you have constantly and steadily
grown worse, your accident date may not be the date that you first experienced
symptoms but may, indeed, be the day that you are taken off work, put on light
duty, or stopped working. The date of accident, of course, is important in
calculating whether you have given timely notice. You must prove Notice to
recover any medical or other benefits.
Your employer also reports the accident to their insurance carrier or the "risk
management" division of some larger companies. These persons, who now contact
you, are paid to save their company money. If an insurance adjuster (or risk
manager) can convince you that you have failed to give proper NOTICE, whether it
is true or not, they may deny you benefits. If an insurance adjuster (or risk
manager) can convince you that the aggravation - getting worse - did not occur
from activities at work, they have an open road to denying your benefits. In
fact, these people are trained to look for reasons not to pay. If they can find
an excuse (such as a hobby or sport) not to pay, it may be used against you. DO
NOT ACCEPT THEIR DECISION AS FINAL;THEY ARE VERY OFTEN WRONG. Remember, they are
not paid to balance all the facts and be fair with you; they are paid to save
their company money.
Written Claim to Your Employer
You must also give written claim within 200 days of the
accident date, the day you were paid benefits, or the day benefits were last
paid to a medical provider. If the employer fails to report your accident in a
timely manner to the Division of Workers Compensation, you may have a longer
time period in which to make your claim. Although the Division provides a Claim
Form, it is not necessary that the official form be used. A written claim may be
made upon the employer by filling out any paper - an incident report, for
example - that is completed by the worker with the intent that it act as a claim
for benefits.
The employer is required to promptly report all on the job injuries to the
Division of Workers Compensation within 28 days. The fact of your injury is then
a matter of public record. If the employer fails to report your accident, the
time limit for filing your written claim may be extended for up to one year
after the accident, or one year after the payment of a benefit to you or a
medical provider.
Usually, your employer also reports the accident to their insurance carrier or
to the "risk management" division in some larger companies. These persons, who
now contact you, are paid to save the company money. If an insurance adjuster
(or risk manager) can convince you that you have failed to give proper NOTICE or
failed to make proper WRITTEN CLAIM, whether it is true or not, they may deny
you benefits. If an insurance adjuster (or risk manager) can convince you that
the aggravation - getting worse - did not occur from activities at work, they
have an open road to denying your benefits. In fact, these people are trained to
look for reasons not to pay. If they can find an excuse (such as a hobby or
sport) not to pay, it may be used against you. DO NOT ACCEPT THEIR DECISION AS
FINAL; THEY ARE VERY OFTEN WRONG. Remember, they are not paid to balance all the
facts and be fair with you; they are paid to save their company money.
The information provided here is only a brief sketch of the law in Kansas. If
the claim is filed late, you may be barred from any further benefits. With
matters as important as a timely claim, it is wise to contact an experienced
workers compensation attorney. Call us and we shall be pleased to advise you.