Can I Get Workers’ Comp if I Quit My Job?

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Getting Workers’ Comp benefits from a business that allowed you to get hurt on the job can be stressful and difficult, mentally and emotionally. When you face a serious injury, you might want nothing more to do with the company that injured you, or you might want to retire from the workforce entirely. However, Workers’ Compensation has some restrictions that might require you to stay employed or continue to be part of the workforce to get benefits.

Workers’ Comp should cover you for any work-related injury, and there may be ways you can still get benefits after your employment with that employer ends. However, you usually still have to be a willing part of the workforce, and you are not considered a “worker” if you resign from working to take care of your injuries. In most cases, quitting your job will hurt your Workers’ Comp benefits, but you should speak with a lawyer about the specifics of your case.

Call the Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Attorneys at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945 for a free case review on your work injury claim.

Is it a Good Idea to Quit with a Workers’ Comp Claim Upcoming or Pending?

You should never quit your position without first speaking to an experienced Pennsylvania Workmans Comp Lawyer. The effect on your case may be quite significant. In some cases, however, a quit may be a good thing. For example, if you have a better job lined up, then a quit can obviously benefit you. But there are timing issues involved with settlement and it’s important to get legal advice before you make such a move.

What are possible defenses against the argument that an injured worker’s wage loss should be suspended after a quit? Perhaps it was due to the work injury itself. Or, perhaps the work environment was “hostile” (this has a specific definition so be careful not to assume that merely because a co-worker or boss is rude or a jerk that you are therefore subjected to a hostile work environment). Sometimes workers are essentially forced to quit. In some situations, the employer will write a letter stating that a failure to return to work will be deemed a “quit”. (even though the reality is that the employer simply cannot accommodate your restrictions). This usually happens when an injured worker has restrictions from her doctor but an IME doctor claims she can work full duty. It goes without saying that these cases and situations are very fact specific.

Be careful also with pension situation. Insurers will often argue that the receipt of a pension is equivalent to the worker withdrawing from the workforce. (ie, retiring).

A good way to combat an insurer’s argument that your wage loss should be suspended based on a retirement or voluntary quit is to show that you are actively looking for work. Keep copies of any job applications.

Also beware of the effect of a quit on Unemployment Compensation. The Unemployment Compensation folks may deny a claim for UC benefits if they believe you voluntarily quit your job.

Can You File for Workers’ Comp in Pennsylvania After Quitting?

Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Comp system sometimes sees people who are no longer employed at a particular job anymore still being able to file for benefits through that former employer. This is common in cases where the injured worker was let go, and it is possible to potentially file an injury claim with your employer after you quit as well. However, you must still file your claim within the proper time period after your injury in order for the injuries to be covered.

For most injuries, you should file within 21 days, but you have an outside limit of 120 days after the injury to file. Many people are not aware of some injuries or health conditions right away, especially when it comes to invisible injuries like a torn rotator cuff that might not hurt all the time and only flare up when you move in a certain way.

You can also file for Workers’ Compensation for health conditions like cancer, and it is possible you might discover cancer well after you have already quit that job and moved on to a different field of work. The deadline to file with an employer’s Workers’ Comp for a condition like cancer is 300 weeks after the end of your employment in that job/industry (i.e., around 5.7 years).

Many workers should not leave their jobs before filing for Workers’ Comp, and you should instead contact our Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers and file your claim at the first sign of a potential work injury. This will make it easier to prove your injury was related to your work with that employer and that it did not occur after you left your job or while working for a subsequent employer.

Can You Quit After Filing for Workers’ Compensation?

Similarly to how ex-employers are still required to cover certain former employees, you might be able to quit that job after filing your claim, but you should not make any moves before talking to a lawyer. There are reasons discussed below that quitting might hurt your benefits.

Can You Quit While Receiving Workers’ Comp Benefits?

Quitting your job while you are actively receiving benefits will likely lead to an interruption of benefits, potentially losing you important coverage you need. In the end, it might also lead to termination of benefits if they perceive you as leaving the workforce entirely rather than just quitting this specific job.

Interruption of Benefits

If your employer hears that you are no longer maintaining your employment with them, they are likely to interpret that in the worst light possible. Even if things ultimately work out and you are legally allowed to quit and keep receiving benefits, your employer might make it an uphill battle to keep those benefits.

Your employer or their insurance carrier might be able to attempt to terminate benefits on the grounds that you are leaving the workforce – more on that below. Even if their claim is ultimately wrong, it may stop your benefits for a period of time, depending on what period of your benefits you are in.

Delay of Benefits

If you file and then quit before your employer has responded to your claim, they might never start up until you have already gone through a court battle. This could delay rather than interrupt your benefits.

Termination of Benefits

Workers’ Comp is meant to cover workers. While you might not be currently working because of an injury that caused lost time at work while you heal or because it caused a permanent disability, you are still a “worker” if you are willing to work.

Many people on Workers’ Comp benefits are unable to work but they are legally required to remain a willing part of the workforce. If you got better and your disability healed up and you could return to work tomorrow, the expectation is usually that you would do so. Moreover, your employer might have kept you on staff with the specific expectation that you would return to work with them when you are able to.

If you decide to formally retire from the workforce, you would actually jeopardize your benefits, and your former employer would likely be able to terminate them entirely. Because of this, you should always be careful about what you say to your employer while receiving benefits, especially when it comes to discussions about retirement or whether you want to keep working.

One important consideration is that your benefits typically cannot be terminated or paused after the fact if you have settled your case in a global settlement and received a lump sum for your benefits. In these situations, you already have the money in hand, and your former employer’s insurance carrier might not be able to do anything if you decide to quit at this point.

Can You Be Fired for Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim?

Ironically, you might not be able to quit the workforce, but you might be fired while receiving benefits. Your employer has no requirement to keep your job position open if you cannot currently work, and they can often fire you and fill the position while you are out. The restriction, though, is that they cannot fire you in retaliation for filing a Workers’ Comp claim.

What if You Feel Like Your Employer is Trying to Fire You?

Talk to your attorney, whether that’s me or someone else as every case is different and needs an individual analysis. But generally, the answer to this will still be to not quit!

If you quit then the Employer/Insurer will argue in Court that your loss of earning power is now due to you voluntarily withdrawing from the work force, versus your work injury causing a loss of future earning power.

Employers often fire injured workers after a work injury but it is illegal to fire an injured worker because they were injured. However, they can (absent a contract) fire someone for other reasons such as poor performance, an economic downturn, etc.

If you quit, it tends to dramatically lower the value of a case. Trying to get wage loss benefits after a voluntary quit can be quite an uphill battle.

If you feel that you cannot handle the physical demands of your job, then speak with your doctor about getting modified restrictions. Then it will be the Employer’s burden to try to accommodate them.

The Case Law – Marazas v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Vitas Healthcare Corporation)

The question in this case was whether an employee can, after quitting, be considered in the course and scope of employment when injured on the premises before leaving. The answer was yes.

Why? Pursuant to this Decision from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, dated August 11, 2014, even though the injured worker quit, the Employer directed him to clean out the truck before leaving, and after he did that, he tripped on a pallet jack causing a fall and resultant injury. The reasoning of the Court was that Claimant was doing something that the Employer requested, and he was on the Employer’s premises and furthering Employer’s interests when he sustained injuries- even though he had technically quit just moments before.

In their Decision, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania distinguished the facts of this case with Little v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (B & L Ford/Chevrolet), 23 A.3d 637 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2011) where a claimant had a heart attack at his home two days after receiving a termination letter in the mail. Here, Claimant was injured on the Employer’s premises. In Little, the claimant was terminated by letter and died days after his employer severed the employment relationship. Here, Claimant sustained the injury on the last day of employment, “in temporal proximity to quitting, within a reasonable time of being required to be on the premises”. Also, in Little, the claimant was not only fired, he was also not engaged in any work activities when he was pacing at his own home. Here, Claimant was injured while performing a task required by the Employer- cleaning out the truck.

Note also that Claimant, while ultimately successful, as part of the appeal, argued that Employer’s admissions in a civil suit that Claimant was employed at the time of his injury, estopped Employer from denying that fact in the workers’ compensation proceeding. The Court delineated the factors of judicial estoppel and concluded that it did not apply in this case.

The key in this Decision of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is that under Section 301(c) (1) of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, the phrase “arising in the course of employment” is construed to include injuries sustained in furtherance of the business affairs of the employer, as well as certain other injuries which occur on premises occupied or controlled by the employer. In this case, while Claimant had “quit”, the Employer then required him to perform a task and that’s when he was injured- thus, falling under the “arising in the course of employment” umbrella.