Watch out for these tricky situations
Learn from others' reporting mistakes and save yourself time, money and headaches.
An employee is missing work
If the injured employee is missing time from work, it is essential that you fill in the "Date of first day of lost time" box. The first day of lost time is when the injured employee misses any amount of work time, whether it's a few hours or the whole day. That information triggers the wage-replacement benefits the employee is entitled to under state law.
Best practices
Report quickly.
Report injuries to SFM right away. Remember, state deadlines for accepting or denying the claim begin when any supervisor, manager or claims coordinator becomes aware of the injury.
If a call from a doctor or attorney is the first time you become aware an employee was injured, report it right away so your SFM claims representative can begin managing the claim.
Notify SFM first, then your agent.
Submit the First Report directly to SFM, then send a copy to your agent if you wish. Reporting only to your agent may delay the response.
Do not have the injured employee fill out the First Report.
The employee may not understand what is being asked or may deliberately misstate facts.
Complete forms.
Try to fill in every box as accurately and completely as possible. If you can't get all the information within a
couple of days, send in the First Report and call your claims representative with additional information later.
You're out of the office.
Make sure you have a backup person to report work injuries while you are out. Let supervisors know you'll be gone and who your backup is. Tell your SFM claims representative.
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Information changes
For example: The employee starts missing
time from work after you have sent in the
First Report. Or the employee has moved.
Call your claims representative
immediately with the updated information.
You receive a medical bill
You shouldn't receive any medical bills for an injured employee. If you do, send them
directly to your SFM claims representative. Don't ever pay a bill. This is an admission
of liability.
You question the injury's legitimacy
You may believe an injury is not work related, or even suspect fraud. Still, by law you must report every claimed injury--even if it's questionable.
Reporting an injury does not mean you are admitting liability. It simply means an
employee claimed he was injured at work.
Use the "confidential comments" box
online, or write your suspicions on a separate piece of paper and attach it to the First Report. Don't write directly on the First Report,
because the injured employee receives a copy.
It's just a minor injury
All injuries should be reported to SFM, even minor ones. If a work injury involves no medical treatment or lost time from work, consider filing an "Incident-Only Report."
To do this, check the "IOR" box on the
online reporting form or write "IOR" in the upper-right corner of the paper form. Type or write "none" or "N/A" in the boxes that do not apply to the injury, such as treating practitioner information or last day worked.
By reporting an incident, you are preserving the necessary information you will need if the
injury does later require medical attention or lost time from work. SFM does not set aside reserves for an incident, so the claim is opened and closed the same day. An incident will not affect your e-mod.
Don't let communications break down
Sometimes an employee doesn't report a work injury simply because he doesn't know what to do.
• Use employee training to teach your employees how, when and to whom they should report work injuries.
• Hang the "If you become injured at work" poster in a high-traffic area where employees will see it. The poster is also available in Spanish and Hmong. Go to SFM's "Resource catalog" to download or request copies.
Sometimes supervisors don't report work injuries, either, because they don't know what to do.
Train supervisors by telling them about
their responsibilities and distributing:
• The "Supervisor responsibilities" sheet. Go to SFM's online "Resource catalog" to download or request copies.
• A "Supervisor work injury response card," which is a mini version of the sheet above. Order wallet cards through SFM's online "Resource catalog".
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