“I’ve been injured on the job – will I be fired?”

Cases where an injured worker is terminated, a.k.a. “fired,” while still attending physical therapy or enrolled in a Work Hardening program do, unfortunately, exist.

The important thing to keep in mind if you are an injured worker and are worried about losing your job is this:  You cannot control the actions of your employer, so instead keep your focus on rehabilitating your injury as quickly, and safely, as possible.  It should be common sense that the longer you remain off work, the more likely your employer will find a replacement.  For occupations that require more specialized training and/or educational Degrees, the window of rehabilitation may be longer in duration.  However, regardless of the time off from work, no job is safe after you have sustained an injury.  Therefore, it is of the upmost importance that you, the injured worker, educate yourself.  Ask questions and stay in contact with your case manager, employer, and physician.  Strictly follow any rehabilitation program prescribed to you and avoid all activities that could jeopardize your recovering injury.

If you have been terminated from your occupation, there are some considerations that can affect your case moving forward, stated very clearly in this article from 2013.

Written by Industrial Health, a specialized Workers’ Compensation therapy center which services Northern Virginia , Sterling , Loudoun , Fairfax , Dulles , Chantilly , Leesburg , Ashburn , Herndon , Reston , Centreville ; and offers programs including Physical Therapy , Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE) , Work Hardening , Work Conditioning , Impairment Ratings , Permanent Partial Disability Ratings