Most serious on-the-job injuries to Idaho workers result in permanent injuries. Typically, you will be given restrictions by your treating doctor that will end your employment with your current employer. Most injured workers in Idaho have a difficult time after they have lost their employment because of an on-the-job injury. You may find yourself getting depressed and not knowing where to turn next.
If retraining is not possible and you cannot return to your former employment, your new job will be looking for a job and documenting the entire work search. The Idaho Worker’s Compensation law requires that you do all you can to find a job that is at or near your pre-injury wage. The Idaho Industrial Commission provides rehabilitation caseworkers that will assist you in your job search. However, only you can actually go out and do the job search in the form of obtaining job leads from the Idaho Department of Labor, searching the internet, and networking with potential employers. Every step of your job search must be documented and contemporaneous records need to be kept so that you can offer this documentation as proof of your job search. If you do not write this information down and keep copies of applications the Idaho Worker’s Compensation system will assume that you did not do the job search.
The very best result of the job search is that you actually obtain a job. This will allow you to show evidence of your wage loss, which then will drive the value of your Idaho Worker’s Compensation claim upward. The job search is a portion of the Idaho Worker’s Compensation claim where you have complete control as the injured worker. You can literally add thousands of dollars to the value of your claim by working hard on the job search.
After you’ve been seriously injured, please contact me so that you can ask me questions about your Idaho Worker’s Compensation claim and I will tell you if you have a case. I can also help you with resources that will assist you in your job search. Put me to work on your case today.