Human Resources reminds employees of worker's compensation best practices

Even with the best practices and policies in place, work-related injuries and/or illnesses can occur. Human Resources is reminding employees of the necessary steps to take when an employee experiences injury or illness due to a work-related situation.

The first step is to inform the supervisor immediately, even if the employee does not require immediate medical care.

Next, the supervisor is required to complete the First Report of Injury (FROI) form as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours after being notified of the employee's workplace illness or injury. The FROI form as well as the Worker's Compensation Witness Report Form can be found on the Radiological and Environmental Management website. 

Purdue employees who are injured while carrying out assigned duties on University property or while traveling on University business may be eligible for coverage under the Indiana Worker's Compensation Act and the Indiana Occupational Diseases Act, which were passed to relieve the hardship caused by occupational injury and disease. Worker's compensation provides benefits to employees who experience accidental injury or illness "arising out of" and "in the course of" employment.

All employees paid through Purdue University payroll -- faculty, staff, administrative, full-time, part-time, exempt, hourly, fellows and student employees -- are covered by worker's compensation benefits. JWF Specialty is the company that manages Purdue's worker's compensation program and is responsible for verifying whether the employee's injury is eligible for benefits under the act.

Employees who require medical treatment for a work-related injury or illness need to make sure they seek treatment at an approved treatment facility. The employee's supervisor will confirm that the employee has transportation to the appropriate medical facility on the day of injury. 

Detailed information on all aspects of worker's compensation, including filing a claim, obtaining medical treatment, payment for medical care and time lost and more, is available on the Benefits Worker's Compensation web page.

Human Resources can be contacted at 49-42222, hr@purdue.edu or via HR Help for questions. For assistance with specific claims issues, contact Deborah Popa or Cindy Guy, return-to-work administrators in Human Resources, at workcompdept@purdue.edu or via phone at 49-40306 or 49-47388 respectively.