Blog post with notes on making a compensation claim for workplace injuries. Employees, employers and business owners should take note!
Claiming from your employer following an accident at work is actually much more common than you may realise. However, you need to understand all that is required in order to succeed. For a successful claim of personal injury there should be, at the very minimum, the following: a)You were injured, whilst undertaking your duties for your employer and b) This injury has caused you to suffer loss.
It should also be noted that your employer has certain obligations to you; ensuring all equipment used in the course of your working day is in good condition and safe ensuring the environment you work in is as safe as possible and any risk of danger is constantly assessed and steps taken to avoid harm. Employers are essentially charged with ensuring your safety to the best of their ability when you are working for them. This is an employer’s duty of care to you, the employee.
People often mistakenly believe that claiming against their employer will put their job at risk. This is not so, in fact it is illegal for you to be treated differently for doing so.
If you are injured at work you will be able to claim for statutory sick pay in order to keep you financially afloat whilst off of work. Typically accidents in the workplace are from objects striking an employee or falls and trips.
This is how claims work if you have an accident in the workplace (if you have been so unfortunate):-
The first thing to bear in mind is any time limits. The time limit for raising a claim for compensation is on the whole three years from the time of accident. However, work related illnesses are generally three years from diagnosis.
You should also take a note of all of the details surrounding your injury. Take as many as possible because it can sometimes be a while before claims a settled and the better your recollection the better chance you will have of succeeding. Included in these notes should also be any and all witnesses, their accounts too if possible and notes of any log in your employer’s accident book.
Your employer must record all injuries at work, regardless of how serious they are, the only caveat being that some very small companies may not have to keep this form of log. However, on the whole this should be adhered to strictly by the employer, for the benefit of the employees as well as the employer. It provides both parties with details on what happened in case you need tie off work or need to claim for compensation later on.
The first thing to do is to get legal representation. If you are a member of a Trade Union it may be possible to use their legal services instead. After you have appointed legal counsel, they will give you a clear indication of how likely to succeed your claim will be and what type of compensation to expect. They will also take all of the workload off of your hands and will begin to process of making your claim and start negotiations to get you the best possible settlement.
It is worth noting that where possible it is preferable to avoid litigation and sort these things with your employer however, there wouldn’t be so many firms clamouring for business if things were that straightforward. Do keep in mind if you are working with the same company that you should not embellish any actions and act honestly and professionally throughout.
It should be noted that although you can’t claim for legal aid in claims against your employer in England and Wales, you can however still claim for legal aid in Scotland. the Access to Justice Act 1999 did not affect legal aid in that jurisdiction. Instead people who are eligible can still claim for financial assistance from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB).
Commercial Blawg
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