Will filing a workers’ comp claim hurt my employer?

May 24 2017

Maybe your boss is your friend, or you work for a mom and pop shop. Maybe you happen to like your employer. Or maybe you are just a nice person. In any case, if you are worried that you will harm your employer by bringing a workers’ compensation, rest assured: You won’t.

To operate a company in Colorado, your employer must carry workers’ comp insurance. Unless your employer is breaking the law and doesn’t have coverage, your claim will be against its insurance company, not the employer.

The workers’ compensation system protects employers, too.

The workers’ compensations system was created, at least in part, to protect employers from negligence claims. Employers have predictable costs (premiums) that they pay to protect their employees in lieu of paying thousands of dollars after an employee is hurt on-the-job. What does this mean?:

  • You won’t hurt your employer by filing a workers’ compensation claim
  • You won’t be fired for bringing your claim (it’s both unnecessary and illegal)
  • You should be compensated for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment

The worst thing that could happen to your employer is for their premium to go up slightly. That’s it.

Don’t hesitate – you need to take care of yourself.

You only have one body, so you need to take care of it. If you wait too long, you aren’t going to heal properly. You aren’t going to get the right treatment.

It is simply not worth it to delay treatment or reporting just because you think you’ll be fired or a claim will hurt an employer.