Accident in workplace - should you expect pay whilst off?

[D5T]

Obviously the financial aspect of losing wages isn't great for a 21 year old with rent, car payments, insurance, mobile bill etc so that is the priority. She has also recently relocated so being house bound makes you feel really lonley when you know maybe 2 or 3 people in your new area.

My issue is that in occasions like these, your employer sinks or swims really. I personally wouldn't want to work there another day as there are some other factors involved here like a senior colleague "diagnosing" the injury etc.
Any claim is a LOT more about the principle of the company flagrantly ignoring their own procedures and treating their staff like dirt.

When they are being nice to you they refer to you as "part of the <Insert employer here> family" but at other times you are just a number.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

My point is you will get the maximum you are entitled to, if you claim.

Claiming should be about covering your loss.. compensating you.. and ensuring that the enforcing authority imposes improvement action on the firm to stop it happening again. FYI: I've seen people asking for £14,000 because they fell over something they placed behind themselves and they still got a payout!!

As a health and safety officer, I'm already hated

 

[Naamiko_O]

If she doesn't get paid then she can call up the ''Claims Direct 4 u Lawyers expert legal advice from the pru'' and get a nice sum of money, that is if your willing to say she had some other extra cirricular activities like dancing classes she was teaching that she couldn't attend. Emotional problems as she can't walk and as a child she was locked in a cage and it brings back bad memories that she doesn't want, and that she was supposed to do dog walking every tuesday for £200 a pop and she couldn't do that either. I think you might be entitled to about £42,526.

 

[Mr Jack]

I'd be straight on the phone to one of those accident companies.

 

[vincent1989]

if an accident occurred to me at work forcing me to take unpaid (SSP doesn't count, it's CRAP) sick leave i'd be seeking to ascertain the lost money any way possible at the companies expense, if the accident is in any part their fault then they should be looking to keep her sweet, she could do a lot more damage than the cost of a few days work.

what kind of work does she do though? i had a suspected fractured ankle (well, just above the ankle) just before christmas 08 and i was able to do light duties at work for a week or two and was still able to walk around a fair deal (albeit in a lot of pain!)

 

[Dark_Angel]

Claiming should be about covering your loss.. compensating you.. and ensuring that the enforcing authority imposes improvement action on the firm to stop it happening again. FYI: I've seen people asking for £14,000 because they fell over something they placed behind themselves and they still got a payout!!

That is insane....

 

[D5T]

It's supermarket work. Not shelf stacking but on one (or more) of their counters so on her feet for 8hour shifts hence the reason behind the Doc signing her off.
Sitting on my rump all day I could sustain a foot/leg injury & be able to work but she couldn't.

 

[vincent1989]

It's supermarket work. Not shelf stacking but on one (or more) of their counters so on her feet for 8hour shifts hence the reason behind the Doc signing her off.
Sitting on my rump all day I could sustain a foot/leg injury & be able to work but she couldn't.

she could have sought light duties in the form of checkouts, that's what i had to do, i certainly couldn't have done my usually job at the time so i do know how she feels. i wouldn't settle for SSP though, considering she's wont be getting full sick pay AND she'll have an absence on her record for this year.

can she not talk to the union in regards to it being down to someone else's mistake, poor training/refresher training and all that?

 

[D5T]

can she not talk to the union in regards to it being down to someone else's mistake, poor training/refresher training and all that?

As I said in OP she pays into some scheme through the employer which covers lega fees, solicitors should the occasion arise. There is also some rep there although don't know who they represent or what powers they may or may not have.
Tbh the fact that they are even thinking about not paying her for an accident that in legal terms comes under "the employers" fault astounds & disgusts me and if it were me I'd be out the door first chance I could get.

 

[McManicMan]

don't take it any further and keep your job or sue them and be jobless 6 months after payout

 

[Rich]

Two options.

Speak to somebody properly high up about good-will full pay given the circumstances.

Or

Apply for Legal Aid, get a REAL solicitor and go for broke. They may be able to secure her full pay while a claim is sorted out.

Note, been the accident claim route before. Took 5 years to get sorted. Long and stressful and ultimately not worth it for the money I got. The damage that was done will last me a lifetime but the money I got lasted a few years.
If I had of been in the US with a similar accident I would be retired already.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

The damage that was done will last me a lifetime but the money I got lasted a few years.
If I had of been in the US with a similar accident I would be retired already.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your accident.

Secondly, I have a book here that details the damages awarded dependant on injury. Some of the figures in the book are completely disgusting.. so much so it's a wonder who thought them up.

 

[Dave M]

If she's only spoken to her direct line manager about it I'd suggest speaking to HR about light duties.

There's no right to anything other than SSP unless it's in your contract.

If they refuse light duties look at the legal options - if it's a bad sprain it could be a month or two before your able to stand on it a full day.

 

[G|mp]

Firstly, sorry to hear about your accident.

Secondly, I have a book here that details the damages awarded dependant on injury. Some of the figures in the book are completely disgusting.. so much so it's a wonder who thought them up.

Let me know how much a slipped disc gets you EVH

 

[wnb]

Two options.

Speak to somebody properly high up about good-will full pay given the circumstances.

Or

Apply for Legal Aid, get a REAL solicitor and go for broke. They may be able to secure her full pay while a claim is sorted out.

Note, been the accident claim route before. Took 5 years to get sorted. Long and stressful and ultimately not worth it for the money I got. The damage that was done will last me a lifetime but the money I got lasted a few years.
If I had of been in the US with a similar accident I would be retired already.

I am an employer and I had an employee who was suing us for an accident at work (neither my fault or her fault) its still not resolved but one thing thats the legal advise told us was that under no circumstances should we pay her anything above the SSP. They explained to us that by doing so it was almost like admitting guilt.

 

[vincent1989]

I am an employer and I had an employee who was suing us for an accident at work (neither my fault or her fault) its still not resolved but one thing thats the legal advise told us was that under no circumstances should we pay her anything above the SSP. They explained to us that by doing so it was almost like admitting guilt.

putting your case aside the employer (or an employee of said employer) is at fault and should be seeking to put it right. if i were the person in question i would be writing a letter to both the store manager and the HR manager detailing the failures in H&S that lead to the accident, insisting on refresher training for the staff and also pointing out the loss of earnings as a result of a work related incident, ask for a reply within a week or you will be contacting the area manager.

should it need to go to the area manager send the same letter (stating that it is such) but also that should it need to be taken further you are willing to do so should you not receive a reply within 2 weeks, send it as recorded delivery with an SaE.

make sure to keep a record of the correspondences and also keep the union informed of your actions and their responses.

ultimately this may get you nowhere, and that is what will most likely happen as labour in supermarkets is fairly easy to come by and they don't really give 2 ***** about the workers on the bottom rung, you'll probably find she is repeatedly told 'i'm sorry, there's nothing we can do, it's just procedure and we have to follow it.' if that is the case (which it probably will be) then she needs to be prepared to;
suck it up (if she values the job/can't find work elsewhere/needs the money),
leave for a new job
or if she feels strongly enough about this then she'll want to do either of the above but sue as well.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Let me know how much a slipped disc gets you EVH

No problem. I've attached 2 pages from our reference book (the same copy our insurers work from). As you can see, it varies from £10,000 to £28,000 depending on how bad it was. I'd side the with the larger damage if you've had an operation and it's still troubling you.



Here are some scans for the OP.

 

[G|mp]

Thanks for that dude

I may have to sue the balls off them, although I think it's over 3 years ago now :/

I started a claim after it happened and the solicitors that they put me in touch with didn't seem to be very good.

They sent me a case study out of how they viewed the claim and missed out vital bits of information, the thought of going back and asking them to change it filled me with dread/boredom/ lack of patience.

Thanks anyway though

 

[Rich]

I am an employer and I had an employee who was suing us for an accident at work (neither my fault or her fault) its still not resolved but one thing thats the legal advise told us was that under no circumstances should we pay her anything above the SSP. They explained to us that by doing so it was almost like admitting guilt.

For the record, I got full pay for quite a long time, before being moved to SSP. They didn't have to admit guilt, the health and safety executive closing the plant down did that for them

Firstly, sorry to hear about your accident.

Secondly, I have a book here that details the damages awarded dependant on injury. Some of the figures in the book are completely disgusting.. so much so it's a wonder who thought them up.

It was a long time ago now, but it had a profound effect on my life for a long time.
As for the payout figures, it doesn't surprise me. I got pittance for my troubles. Was barely worth the stress and hassle of going through the proceedings for 5 years.
I came perilously close to losing my foot. Had 180 stitches in it, all bones crushed, pins in toes etc. Still badly scarred now and this is going back 12 years. My first two toes do not bend, and never will. The joints are fused. They are basically solid pieces of bone with no knuckle. You do not want to know how badly it hurts if I stub them

It actually took away my primary career choice too. I wanted to join the military but was told that would never be a possibility again. It is difficult to come to terms with that when you are 18 years old.

Still, life goes on. I picked a new career around 7 years ago and do well for myself out of it.

Good luck with your proceedings. Hope you have better luck than I did.

 

[D5T]

Bit of a thread revival but who doesn't like an update?

Basically, in a nice twist the aforementioned injured Mrs D5T has been offered a really decent job with training etc & will therefore be leaving the workplace who "Don't do accident pay no more love".

She has since had contact with the solictor who confirmed she does indeed have a case if for nothing other than the lack of pay whilst recovering from a workplace accident.