If your employer accuses you of lying about your injuries and refuses to submit the appropriate incident reporting forms to their insurer or a workers' compensation office, consult with a personal injury attorney right away. Regardless of how your employer feels about your accident, they're responsible for submitting your incident report forms to their insurer for review. Depending on your state's laws, you may only have a certain time limit to file your claim. Here's what happens if your employer doesn't submit your forms on time and what you can overcome it.

What Happens If Your Employer Fails to Report Your Injury?

While it doesn't happen with every employer, some individuals or companies refuse believe that their employee's injuries are serious enough to warrant workers' compensation. Other employers may outright accuse employees of lying about their injuries and accidents in order to defraud the system. In this case, the employer may refuse to send in your incident report forms, which can greatly hurt your chances of receiving workers' compensation.

Depending on your state's workers' compensation requirements and laws, you have anywhere from 48 hours to a month or more to report your injury to your employer. Your job's supervisor generally gives you several incident report forms to complete right away. If you received medical care on the job's property or at an emergency medical center, you or the supervisor should also mention this information on the forms.

After your employer receives and/or signs the forms, the law requires them to submit the paperwork to their insurance company and to a workers' compensation office for review. If your boss didn't follow these steps, the insurer may deny your claim outright for failing to submit them on time. 

One of the best ways to protect your rights is to contact a legal professional for help and file your own workers' compensation claim.

What Can You Do to Obtain Workers' Compensation Benefits?

When you contact a workers' compensation attorney, be sure to have information about your case on hand, such as the date and time of your incident. Also, have the full name and title of your employer and the name of the supervisor who completed your original incident report forms. An attorney may use this information if they need to take your case to court.

An attorney may send you to workers' compensation doctors for an evaluation of your injuries. The emergency care you received the day of your incident may not be enough to secure your case. You may need additional documentation, such as X-rays, blood tests and physical exams, that show the extent of your injuries. If your employer still refuses to honor your claim, the new documentation may help prove that your injuries are indeed real and severe enough to receive workers' comp benefits.

For more information filing a workers' compensation claim, contact a personal injury lawyer like Law Office of Daniel E Goodman, LLC.