What is Workers’ Comp Employer Fraud?
Most people may be more familiar with the concept of employee fraud when it comes to Workers’ Compensation. For example, if an employee claims they cannot work due to a back injury and begin collecting benefit checks for this injury, but is then spotted out dancing or water skiing, that can be considered fraud.
However, employers have also been known to commit fraud when it comes to workers’ compensation. One of the most common ways employers do this is to underreport their payroll. The Fiscal Policy Institute found that employers report 20 percent lower payroll to Workers’ Compensation than they do to unemployment insurance.
Some employers pay their employees in cash, which means their employees may not be on the books, so employers don’t have to pay Workers’ Compensation benefits. If there is no record of an employee it means there is no need to pay out benefits. Or an employer may simply claim that an employee who does one job is doing another lower paying job so that they don’t have to pay more in Workers’ Compensation insurance.
Another way employers may commit fraud is through pressuring injured workers not to file a claim. They may threaten to withhold or deny filed claims, as well as underpay benefits on accepted claims.
This is why it is important to know how much you should receive in the event you are injured on the job and have to file a Workers’ Compensation claim.
If you suspect your employer is committing fraud with your Workers’ Compensation benefits or claim, please contact the experienced Workers’ Compensation attorneys at White & Stradley, PLLC, today.  We serve the Raleigh, Durham, Goldsboro, Greenville, Kinston, Lumberton, Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, and Tarboro, North Carolina areas.
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 30th, 2011 at 4:46 pm and is filed under Workers' Compensation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
