Tag Archives: holiday jobs

Workers comp issues during the holidays

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I spent part of a “nearly summer-like” Sunday putting up Christmas decorations last weekend, so it’s time to talk about some holiday season workers’ compensation topics.

More falls when you fallback? If you are like me, you probably feel a little off the Monday after a time change. But does feeling a little off lead to more work injuries or accidents?. Studies say that while losing an hour of sleep during the spring ahead leads to more injuries, falling back in the fall doesn’t lead to more injuries. Experts believe this is because the fallback means people don’t lose sleep. (Parents of young children and pets may beg to differ about an extra hour of sleep)

But studies also indicate that more car accidents take place at sunset and more take place in the autumn than in the spring. I will often travel to points in central and western Nebraska from Lincoln during afternoon and night hours. I am glad I don’t have any road trips planned this week.

Holiday job injuries – While statistics may not bear out a correlation between the fall time change and work injuries, statistics do show new employees are more vulnerable to work injuries. During the holidays many people take on holiday jobs.  Holiday jobs are increasingly delivery and warehousing jobs that have a higher injury rate than traditional retail jobs. So in short, many workers may be more vulnerable to work injuries over the holiday season. Unfortunately, workers hurt doing a part-time or second job are limited to disability benefits based on those wages rather than on any income loss at their main or full-time job.

Voluntold workers – I saw and heard my first Salvation Army bell ringer today. Last year I wrote about how The Salvation Army partners with insurers and employers to employ injured workers as “volunteer” bell ringers. These assignments are particularly popular with employers that lack light or alternative duty programs.

I would imagine that these programs could become more popular due to business concerns over alleged labor shortages. If you can’t find workers to do jobs, you can always try coercing injured workers with the prospect of losing their workers’ compensation benefits and their job for refusing a volunteer assignment.

I went off on these arrangements last year. In short, their benefits are oversold and they create lots of practical problems for injured employees. They also re-enforce the power imbalance between injured workers and employers.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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What Happens If I Get Hurt at My Second Job?

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An estimated 7 million Americans work at least two jobs. As the holidays approach, many people will take on holiday jobs as well. Getting hurt at a second job or a holiday job can also create problems at your full-time or regular job. This post will help you navigate some of those issues:

  1. What benefits are you entitled to when you are hurt at a second or holiday job?Your benefits are limited by the wages you are receiving at your second job. You might be able to increase this amount with tips or other perks, but you cannot be paid for wage loss from your first job. If you do have permanent disability, that will be paid based off of a 40-hour week even if you worked part time.

    Receipt of workers’ compensation benefits assumes that you are an actual employee and not an independent contractor. For most relatively low-wage part-time work, this is a fair assumption. But since I wrote my holiday job post back in 2013, there has been the emergence of ride-hailing companies like Uber and other sharing-economy companies that have blurred the lines between employee and independent contractor. If you get hurt working for one of these companies, you should contact an attorney, as the distinction between an employee and independent contractor is very fact specific.

  2. How does a work injury at a second job affect your benefits at your regular job?

     

    Health insurance

    Assuming your other job’s workers’ compensation insurance company picks up your medical benefits, your health insurance from your regular job would not be affected. But in a disputed case, you may have to use health insurance from your regular job to pay for your workers’ compensation injury at your second job. In that case, you should list workers’ compensation from the company where you were hurt as the primary insurance and your private health insurance as your secondary insurance. Also be aware that if you settle your workers’ compensation claim, you may have to pay back your private health insurance. If you go to trial and win an award of medical benefits, your medical providers should refund the private health insurance and reimburse you for out-of-pocket expenses. In a disputed case, you should contact an attorney not only to get benefits but also to health navigate reimbursement.

    Short-term and long-term disability

    Larger employers will often have short-term and long-term disability policies to help employees make up for lost income. These are a mixed bag. Some won’t let you collect benefits for work injuries, some may allow you to double collect workers’ compensation and disability, while others may require you reduce benefits. These policies often have repayment policies if a workers’ compensation case is settled as well. It is helpful to have a lawyer to help you with this process as well.

  3. How does a work injury at a second job affect your employment at your regular job? 
    Assuming your injury requires you to miss time from work, you can claim the Family and Medical Leave Act, assuming your employer has 50 employees, you have worked there for a year, and you have worked there for at least 1,250 hours over the last year. Assuming your employer has 15 employees, your employer would be required to make some reasonable accommodations for your injury under the Americans with Disabilities Act. You should reach out to a lawyer if either employer requires you to return to work without restrictions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stated in final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 that policies that force employee to return to work without restrictions are unlawful. Ironically, if you are hurt at your second job, that employer is probably more likely to return you to work at light duty so that they can avoid or reduce what you are owed in temporary benefits. The new ADA regulations were intended in part to end how work-caused and non-work-caused disabilities are treated.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Six Tips for Safe and Fair Holiday Employment

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This time of year, many people get holiday jobs to earn extra money. That means some people will get injured at work and run into other difficulties working holiday jobs. Here are six tips on how to deal with the workplace challenges arising from holiday jobs. These tips for safe and fair employment apply just as well to any second job, not just a holiday job.

  1. Just because you have a “holiday job” doesn’t necessarily make you a seasonal employee: In some states, including my home state of Nebraska, employees can have their benefits reduced if they are a “seasonal employee.” However, even if you have a holiday job, your job may not be seasonal. In Nebraska, “seasonal employment” is defined as a job that is dependent on weather or can only be done during certain times of the year. For example, if you hurt your back working at an electronics store at your holiday job, that employment is not seasonal because you can work at an electronics or really most any retail store at any time of the year.
  2. You can’t be paid workers’ compensation for how your holiday or second job affects your regular job: If you are off work at your regular job because of an injury at your second job or holiday job, you are only paid income-replacement benefits for the income you lost at your holiday job or second job. For example in Nebraska, if you were hurt at your holiday/second job that pays $120 per week and you are unable to do your regular job that pays $600 per week, your only income benefit would be two-thirds of your second/holiday job, which would be $80. Employees should be extra cautious in second jobs or holiday jobs for just that reason. Employees should also consider applying for private disability plans if they plan on having a second job in order to account for the possibility of losing income due to an injury at their second job. In short, employees should do a thorough cost-benefit analysis before taking a holiday job or second job.
  3. Your permanent disability benefits could be better than your temporary benefits: In full-time employment, permanent and temporary disability benefits are generally fairly close. But with part-time employment, permanent disability benefits may be much higher than temporary benefits. In my state of Nebraska, temporary benefits are paid based on a typical work week. For example, if you are a part-timer working 12 hours a week at $10 per hour, your temporary disability pay would be $80 a week. However, in Nebraska and some other states, permanent disability is based on no less than a 40-hour week. So if you are a part-timer getting paid $10 per hour, your permanent disability rate would be $266.67 per month. This is good for employees, because serious injuries will usually have permanent effects that can permanently affect an employee’s ability to earn a living.
    If you are an injured part-time worker and your insurance company is trying to force you to take a settlement based on your part-time wage rate, you should consult with an attorney in your state.
  4. Your employer/insurer may be low-balling your wage rate: Say you get paid $8 an hour as a barista but you have an agreement to share tips, or you work in retail but you get store credit, or you teach exercise classes at a health club but you have an agreement that you get a free membership. In any of those scenarios, you could possibly use those benefits to increase your loss-of-income benefits.
  5. You are still protected by most fair-employment laws: Part-timers are still covered by most fair-employment laws. The most glaring exception is likely the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave and job protection for employees with a serious health condition, to care for a close family member with a serious health condition, or take care of a close family member who is affected by a military deployment. FMLA requires 1,250 hours worked in the last calendar year and 1 year of employment. That 1,250 hours a year translates to roughly 24 hours a week. Many people working second jobs don’t meet the eligibility standards for FMLA.
  6. Independent contractor, independent conschmacktor: Many holiday employees do fairly low-wage work that doesn’t require any specialized training or education. If this describes your holiday job or second job, then you are an employee, despite the fact that your company may have classified you as an independent contractor. Since you are an employee, you should be covered by workers’ compensation law. If you are misclassified as an independent contractor, you should look for other employment and consider reporting your unscrupulous employer to the United States Department of Labor or to your state’s department of labor.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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