What happens if I quit my job while I am on Workers’ Comp?

Kelly worked for the school system for years when she fell coming up an icy ramp before school. She was treated and taken out of work.  But she didn’t believe she would ever be able to do her job again after she broke her hip.

As the weeks passed, the doctor and the workers’ comp nurse told her it was time for her to get back to work. But Kelly disagreed. She knew there was no way that she could go back and do her job working with little children. Sometimes they ran into her or demanded to be picked up. She had to move around books and materials. It just wasn’t going to work.

So Kelly thought about quitting. But she wondered:  “Will I get paid after I quit? How will I pay for my medical costs and bills?”

It’s a free country, and no one can make Kelly work at a job that she believes that she can’t do. But if her doctor believes that she can do the work, and she doesn’t try to do it, she is at risk of losing her weekly payments.  An employee cannot refuse suitable work that is offered by the employer and receive workers’ compensation payments.  It would be different if the work wasn’t within her restrictions. This job is, at least according to her doctor.

The law says that the employee shall not be entitled to any compensation when they refuse to work a suitable job.  So Kelly could be cut off from any benefits.

A better plan for Kelly and any worker in this position is to try the job, or to ask the insurance company for another opinion from a doctor.  If she can’t do the job, she should contact the treating doctor right away.