Workers Comp -- Accrued Sick Time

jlong

It's rare that our company files a workers comp claim so I'm looking for guidance here. We have an employee that suffered a fall in one of our store rooms. The doctor said she had "knee contusion and swelling" and wouldn't be able to return to work for 7 days. My question is this -- are we prohibited from assessing some of those days against her accrued sick time since it was a job related injury? She doesn't have enough accrued sick time to cover all the days missed, so we're not sure how to proceed. One legal counsel suggested just covering the time off, as a "good will gesture". Our WC insurance won't pay for the first 7 days missed. Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

NaeNae55

You can legally require your employee to use sick time, and you don't have to pay them once it runs out (at least, that's how it works in my state). However, that may not be the best option for your company. Your legal advice may be a good thing for 'good will.' On the other hand, what if the employee ends up being off for months and months? You may not want to pay them for all that time. Was the employee following company policies and procedures, or were they horsing around or doing things 'their way' instead? The facts may have an impact on your decision.

Remember, you are setting a precedent here. Set up some guidelines that you want to use in the future, and then follow them here (not the other way around).

Good luck!

Nae

sonny

It would be dependant on your policy (or CBA if you have one). . if you don't have one, just make sure what you do this time , you do next time. .and then write a policy. I have worked places that do it both ways. Employer pays first 7 days, if that is ultimately reimbursed to employee, er keeps. Also been where the ee is allowed to use sick or vacation to cover first 7 days. If they don't have the time to cover they are approved for leave without pay. They then get to keep the reimbursement if it comes.

Dutch2

We do similar to Nae. If the ee is not off long enough for WC to pay for time missed we use the ee's sick time. If they have no sick time, we allow them to use vacation time if it is avaliable. If they do not have either, they are not paid. We do pay them for a full days work the day of the accident.
As others have mentioned, be careful since this is the first time. Consider the worst case situations with your best and poorest performing ee's cause you will be doing the same for both going forward.

hrdilemma

We do the same as NaeNae and Dutch2 with one exception. We don't automatically use vacation on Worker's Comp cases. If the employee wants to us vacation we will but only on their request. Otherwise the are not paid if no sick time is available until day 8 with WC kicks in. Our reasoning is to encourage return to employment.