The 4 Tips On Getting Back To Work After An Injury

If you have been injured at work then you know how difficult it is to be out of work. At the same time, you also have to take care of yourself. An injury at work means that your workplace isn’t exactly safe so you have to be careful about returning. You may even be feeling some pressure to return before you feel physically or mentally ready.

Recovery times vary for different people so you can’t be on a strict timetable. There are issues like worker’s compensation that have certain requirements as far as treatment goes. You also need to be listening to personal injury lawyers like Lamber Goodnow that can give you good advice on returning to work after an injury that won’t put your claim in jeopardy. You can read their website to learn more.

In this article, we will go over several of the things to keep in mind when trying to return to work after a workplace injury.

1. Listen to your doctor, not your boss 

The only people who can tell you when you are properly healed and healthy enough to return to work are you and your doctor. You may be feeling some pressure from your boss or company manager to get back to work as soon as possible. You may also be feeling the pressure from yourself to get back before you are fully healed so you can get your life back on track.

Always listen to your doctor as they understand what the repercussions would be if you try to return to work before you should. Returning to work before you are healed could make you suffer a recovery setback and further delay you getting back to 100% health.

Make sure to ask your doctor a lot of questions so you understand the reasons why they say that you should continue to recover and not start working yet. Your body may also be telling you that it is not ready to get back to work as well. Communicate with your doctor what your body is telling you by letting them know where, when, and how you feel pain or resistance in your body so they can give you an accurate assessment of where they feel you are in your recovery process.

2. Ask for accommodations

When you are cleared for working again, it doesn’t mean that you will be right back where you were before the injury. In fact, your injury could leave you with permanent side effects that you will have to live with now.

An employer is required to make accommodations for you to be able to work without risking reinjury. This means that if you need to sit down at work every hour for ten minutes, they have to agree to that and make sure that you are able to do so.

They might even need to make some adjustments to your work area by making it safer, or more accessible if you have limited mobility. They might not do so without you asking for these accommodations specifically. If you have a note from a doctor saying that these changes are necessary then include them in a written request.

3. Stay in contact

Your employer deserves to know what your recovery process is like as far as timing goes and what accommodations they may be required to make on your behalf. Staying in contact with them throughout the treatment and recovery time is a good policy to have so they know what to expect.

If you drop out of communication for months at a time, then you are putting your employer in a bad position. It could even put a strain on your working relationship later when you are ready to come back.

It’s not necessary to let them know about all your medical details since that is private and not necessary for them to know. However, the process of returning to work will be much smoother when there is clear communication on your part.

4. Focus on your recovery 

Although you want to keep your employer in the loop and you may also want to return to work faster, you need to make sure that you are able to recover. Avoid doing things like trying to take on some work while you are at home recovering to keep your boss happy and you feeling productive. The time is now to recover and focus on just that. The company will survive without you working for a few months.

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