This is Missouri Worker’s Compensation Attorney, Jason Krebs. And in today’s video, I thought we’d answer a question that we get quite a few calls about, and that is, “Can I turn down light duty work if I’m on Missouri worker’s compensation?”
The general answer to that is no, you can’t turn it down. As long as that work is within the restrictions that your Missouri work comp doctor has given you, you really can’t turn that down.
Even if they have you come in and count paper clips, that is acceptable. We’re starting to see this more and more. 10 or 15 years ago, we saw quite a few of these light duty situations. The employer, frankly, is trying to make you say something to get you in trouble, to get you fired, or just say, “I’m not coming to work today”.
Unfortunately they can make you come in and count paper clips or stare at the wall. If you’re a truck driver, they can make you just ride around in the truck all day. Not drive necessarily, but they can do that. As long as it’s within your restrictions.
So, that’s something that your attorney really can’t help you with as long as it is within those restrictions. What we recommend is if you’re having questions about that, or if they give you work that exceeds your restrictions, you should report it to HR. Or that’s one of the places where having a Missouri work comp lawyer is real important.
The main thing a Missouri workers compensation lawyer can do is get at you the most money as well, at the end of the case.
What we recommend is that if you’ve had a surgery, if your injury required surgery, you had a broken bone, torn ligament, a torn tendon, something like that, you probably need a lawyer. If it was just a bruise or something like that, you probably don’t.
We do offer a book that you can get on our website or give us a call at (800) 345-0535 or (417) 883-5886.
We handle cases for Worker’s Compensation claims throughout the state of Missouri. Thanks for watching and best of luck.