Another honest to goodness question....

There shouldn't be a problem unless an employee shows a propensity for getting hurt at work, i.e. multiple workman's comp claims within a limited period of time.

 

They also want to document preexisting conditions (especially back problems) so they can limit their exposure in the event of reinjury

 

I also suspect it is for workers compensation.

1. The employer pays the workers compensation premiums not the employee.

2. Workers Compensation is provided by a Insurance company at State level. Base rates are worked out comparing other companies of the same business and the number of claims within that business. IE; Construction Workers are high on the list whereas a Teacher is lower down. This means Education facility pays less Workers Comp than a Construction Company. However if the Education facility has a lot of claims their contribution % rate increases. Likewise if a haulier has a lot of Workers Compensation claims against it they pay a higher rate.

3. Also although companies fall in to levels of rates due to the dangers involved, a company can pay a lower rate by having a good safety record and no claims against it.

So if an employee has a history of say back problems, statistically he or she is a higher risk of claiming workers comp and costing the company more. Which could also be a reason not to be hired!!


The same principal works with unemployment insurance but on a Federal Level, the more people you send to the unemployment lines the more a company pays in premiums. That is why most employers prefer you to resign rather than fire you!

 

You should be able to return to the job you were at because you are covered under the FMLA laws for 12 weeks.

If you were terminated as the result of a wreck then that would be the underlying issue.

Let's say you exhausted your FMLA, your employer can let you go as an at will employee. You will draw your workers comp until healed and released by the doctor. Then if you are unemployed and willing and able to work you can draw unemployment off them.

Your next employer will look for a trend of filing wc claims. If it's just one or two spread out it shouldn't be an issue. Is this guy accident prone? Is he gonna tear up our equipment?

 

Some places will avoid you,

even AFTER JUST 1 w/c CLAIM......

 

Ok let me please expand on this question and get some thoughts. As some of y'all may remember, I suffered a mild stroke about a year and a half ago. I have been on SSDI ever since, I've completed my physical therapy, got the doctor to say that he'll write a letter saying I'm alright to return to work, and am positive I'll pass a DOT physical. currently unemployed looking to go back OTR, what issues might I face?

 

The biggest issue you may face is finding a GOOD company that will take a chance on your history. I'm definitely not knocking you at all, so please do not take it that way. At the LTL outfit I used to work for we had a driver that had a stroke while on duty, they found him in the drop lot of one of the terminals and after the company's doctor signed off to let him come back to work they started nit picking at him for every little thing until they built a big enough case against him to fire him. We all knew it happened just to free the company from potential further medical costs due to his pre-existing condition. Many other drivers got away with far worse stuff than they were busting his chops about. But therein goes to show the politics of some LTL outfits.