Are You Allowed to Call in Sick on Light Duty?

During your Workers’ Comp case, you will often draw a lot more scrutiny from your employer for everything that you do at work.  This is an unfortunate reality that many injured workers deal with, especially while on light duty work for a partial disability.  Insurance carriers and employers will look for any excuse they can to cut off your benefits or even fire you from your job.  This can make things like taking a sick day more difficult – or at least scarier.

Generally, workers are entitled to use their sick days for illness or injury according to their employer’s normal policy, whether they are injured or not and whether they are on light duty or not.  An employer cannot restrict you from using your sick days for an unrelated illness just because you’re on light duty.  However, using sick days for your work injury might violate rules.  In any case, what employers can legally do and what they will try to get away with might not be the same.

If you have any questions about your work injury case, call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.

Can Light Duty Workers Take Sick Days for Unrelated Illness?

If your work injury put you on light duty work and you are working with accommodations to keep your job, then you should be treated the same as every other worker when it comes to policies and practices outside of your injury and accommodation.  That means that sick day policies should still permit you to take sick days for illnesses not related to your work injury.

While accommodations can give you a lot of extra leeway with rules at work, they do not change any neutral rules or policies that are unrelated to your injury.  For example, a checkout clerk at a grocery store might have an accommodation that allows them to use a stool behind the register, but this would not give them any leeway to fail cash drawer counting procedures.  These neutral rules apply to them the same as they do to any other worker.

The same should be true when it comes to benefits: benefits outside of your accommodation should still be available to you the same as they would for any other worker.  This can include your sick day and absentee policies.

Just like any other worker, you should be entitled to take sick days for injuries or illnesses that are separate from your work injury, assuming you follow all rules for required doctor’s notes and notice.  If a full-time worker with no accommodations can take a few days off for the flu, then Pennsylvania law should guarantee your right to do the same.

Can Light Duty Workers Use Sick Days for Their Work Injury

Problems often arise if you try to use sick days to give yourself additional room to heal or downtime to recover from your work while you are on accommodations for light-duty work.  Your doctor’s orders should dictate exactly what accommodations you get, including modifications to hours and days off.  If you try to use your sick days to accommodate your work injury outside of this guidance, it could put your Workers’ Comp case or your employment in jeopardy.

Penalties for Using Sick Days for Work Injuries

If you miss work and try to use a sick day, but the reason for the sick day was a work injury, then that might violate Workers’ Comp rules or your employer’s policies.  Taking a day off for an improper reason or without approval could be deemed refusal to work, which could lead to benefits being terminated or you being fired.  Always check with a lawyer about what the proper process is to keep your benefits, keep your job, and still get the accommodations you need during your recovery.

It is also vital that you only use sick days for actual illness and that you follow your doctor’s restrictions even on days off.  If your employer catches you surfing or skiing on a “sick day” while on light-duty restrictions, you will probably lose your job and your benefits.

Following Doctor’s Orders

Employers primarily rely on your doctor’s orders to determine what you can and can’t do at work and what accommodations they have to provide.  If either you or your employer appear to be failing to follow the doctor’s orders, your benefits or employment could be at risk.

If your employer isn’t properly accommodating your injury according to doctor’s orders, e.g., by providing enough time away from work, then you usually have two options.  First, you can ask your doctor to clarify their orders, potentially pushing the employer into more accurate accommodation.  If the employer still fails to accommodate you accurately, our Workers’ Compensation lawyers can take the case back to court.

If you are not able to keep up with your doctor’s orders and you are trying to take extra days off to accommodate yourself, you could lose your benefits for noncompliance.  To fix this situation, you might need to go back to your doctor and ask for additional accommodation orders that you can actually follow.

Going Back to Total Disability

Sometimes accommodations are not enough, and the worker is actually totally disabled.  Trying to get by with accommodations when you need to stay home and recover can hurt your health and recovery.  The solution here is usually to go back to court and file to have your benefits converted to total disability benefits, taking you back out of work while you continue your recovery.

Law vs. Reality

While employers are required to follow certain rules and laws, accommodate injuries sufficiently, and avoid discriminating against disabled workers, they often have motivations that cut against following these rules.  For example, your employer might not like that you’re making them less money while on light duty work or they might not like having to accommodate your injuries.  Employers often look for any excuse to cut off benefits, fire you, or both.

When on Workers’ Comp benefits, the employee is often under closer scrutiny, and employers will jump at any opportunity to fire them, even if the grounds are quite weak.  However, the opposite is also true: our attorneys keep employers under close scrutiny when they are providing Workers’ Comp benefits.  If your employer tries to weaponize your partial disability against you or fire you for getting sick, we can seek reversal, reinstatement of benefits, and other potential penalties for bad-faith actions.

Call Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Today

If you need legal help while on Workers’ Comp, contact our Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.