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Social media can help you defend against a workers’ comp claim

On Behalf of | Jun 17, 2018 | Uncategorized

As an employer in Louisiana, you generally need to purchase and maintain a workers’ compensation policy to protect you against liability related to injuries or illnesses your workers suffer due to their employment. These policies ensure that your employees can access medical care and pay their bills while recovering. They also protect you against lawsuits unless there’s evidence of negligence contributing to the situation.

However, the costs to employers for workers’ compensation can be quite high, especially if you have a major claim on your policy. You may have to pay far more for protection after a claim. After all, Louisiana has the highest cost out of any state for workers’ compensation claims. If you have any reason to suspect fraud or a wrongful claim, you should take action to protect your business.

The two biggest kinds of fraud you need to look for

When it comes to workers’ compensation, there are two common forms of employee fraud. The first involves faking an injury or exaggerating the extent of an injury to receive benefits, up to and including permanent disability benefits. A workers could go so far as to stage a workplace accident to make it look like he or she suffered a major injury while working.

The other common form of fraud is the attempt to claim an injury came from work when it was really unrelated to the person’s employment. An employee could try to pass off injuries related to household accidents, vehicle crashes or even sports as a work-related injury, costing your company money.

Social media can help you investigate any suspicious claims

If you have any reason to suspect an employee’s claims, from dubious overall honesty to statements made by other employees, you should investigate as well as you can. Social media pages for your workers can be an excellent resource. Your employees will likely share a lot of information and pictures online. Once you find a worker on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram, you can review their existing and new content to look for signs of fraud.

Pictures showing your employee happy and healthy after the alleged injury could help your case. Saving both the link and a screenshot of the post (in case your employee later deletes it) can help you prove the injury isn’t real or as severe as claimed. Posts or tweets about the injury before the work accident could also help you defend against an expensive workers’ compensation claim.

While you obviously want injured workers to receive support and benefits, you shouldn’t have to pay for fake injuries or injuries that workers suffer elsewhere. Social media is just one tool that can help you build a successful defense against a fraudulent workers’ compensation claim

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