Can My Employer Cut My Hours If I’m Injured?

If a person is injured while at work on doing work-related activities, that individual is legally allowed to receive compensation for those injuries. While this is usually uncontested, there are other factors that can vary and create gray areas in situations where a person does seek worker’s compensation. One question that frequently arises has to do with the job status or hours of the employee while a compensation case is going on.

Firstly, if a workplace injury completely inhibits a person from working in the same job that they were in, then this situation does not apply. However, if a person can still work properly but still requires medical treatment for a workplace injury, which is not uncommon, then these are questions worth answering. In the state of Florida, an employer cannot fire or cut back the hours of the injured employee on the basis of their injury or in “punishment” for filing a worker’s compensation case.

That being said, an employer can fire or cut back the hours of an employee for any other reason, such as budget cuts in the company or the “reworking” of a position. This, unsurprisingly, creates a lot of gray area legally. How can one prove if an employer is indeed cutting back hours or firing an employee for legitimate reasons or not?

That is unfortunately why an attorney is almost a necessity for worker’s compensation cases. A good attorney will help you fight for your right to medical compensation and prevent companies from taking advantage of you in these situations. To learn about how we at the Franco Law Firm can assist you in your compensation claim, please call us at (813) 872-0929.