Every day workers wake up, spend time with their family or friends, and head off to work. They make plans for after work or the weekend. They simply go about life. No one plans to get hurt on the job. Yet, it happens each and every day. If you were hurt on the job, would you know what to do? Workers’ compensation insurance is in place to help workers just like you who get hurt on the job. There is a law in place in each state that makes it mandatory for most employers to have workers’ compensation insurance in place to protect workers. It doesn’t cost the employees anything to file a claim if they are hurt on the job. It provides benefits such as help with medical expenses (even for people with medical insurance), may pay a portion of lost wages, and may also provide other benefits depending on the nature of the injury received. Company Profile: Nordstrom Inc. Nordstrom Inc., is a large retail clothing store chain with locations throughout the United States. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. There are 116 stores in 38 states, with around 72,500 employees in the United States. Along with the standard retail store, the company also has a discount store chain, called Nordstrom Rack. Both chains sell apparel for men, women and children. Risks Faced by Nordstrom Employees Nordstrom, like other retailers, has a multitude of positions. Each position has its own unique risks: Warehouse workers and stockers face the possibility of injuries to their neck and spine from lifting heavy boxes and moving them. They may slip and fall which can cause them to break a bone or suffer from a herniated disc. Janitors and cleaners are exposed to chemicals on a daily basis. This puts them at risk for developing occupational diseases. They’re also at risk for slip and falls. Retail sales clerks and cashiers also face risks. Slipping and falling on a slick floor can cause back injuries or head injuries. Repeating the same small movements over and over can cause the development of repetitive stress injury in the joints. Baristas who work for Nordstrom stores that have coffee shops are at risk of suffering not just from slipping and falling, they also face the risk of burns from hot coffee and equipment. What You Should Do If You’re Hurt If you’re hurt on the job, you may not know what to do. You may think that you should keep working until the end of your shift. It’s important that you don’t do that because you can make your injury worse. Stop working. Let your supervisor know right away about your injury. If you’ve hit your head or if you’ve received a severe burn, this is a medical emergency and you should call 911. Document what happened with an accident report. If you called 911, a police officer will complete an incident report. Get the report number. You can pick up a copy of the report in a few days. Get medical attention. You’re entitled to emergency medical attention if you have a medical emergency. Consider filing a workers’ compensation claim. Your manager or Human Resources advisor can help you. She or he can also give you a list of doctors that can treat you for no charge. Different Types of Compensation Claims While workers' compensation usually provides benefits to the employee that covers his or her medical expenses and a portion of lost wages, the case may vary by how someone was injured and what they do for work would be. If you work at a Nordstrom store, you may want to take a look at our pages about the differences in workers' compensation for these positions: Stock Clerks Cashiers Gathering Evidence for a Workers’ Compensation Claim One of the things you do not want to worry about when you have been injured at work is whether your claim for workers’ compensation will be successful. To stop this happening you need to do everything right to begin with. If you don’t and your claim is denied, you may have to go through the painful and slow appeal process. As well as putting you under immense stress more often than not the appeal is denied. You may then find you have to pay for all your medical treatment and you won’t benefit from the wages component that workers’ compensation provides. Typically, the principal reason for a workers’ compensation denial is that there is insufficient evidence filled in on the claim’s form. This could be incomplete evidence showing your injury took place at work and a diagnosis from your doctor that doesn’t quite match your current disability. Sometimes insurers ask for a second doctor’s opinion before agreeing to a workers’ compensation claim. Insurers typically think that a victim isn’t telling the complete truth about their injury and often the insurer reaches a decision because they think the disability isn’t the result of a workplace accident but happened at some other time and in a different place. The evidence required to satisfy Nordstom’s workers’ compensation insurer comes in the form of the following documents: eye witnesses testimonies from the scene of the accident which could be co-workers; eye witnesses contact details; certified copy of accident report submitted to a supervisor at Nordstrom; emergency room report which should confirm the time and date of the accident; photographs taken at the accident scene in the workplace; video footage taken by Nordstrom’s surveillance cameras; the doctor’s diagnosis, in writing, including how the accident happened, the treatment required and the recovery time; medical records which can affirm the link between the accident and the victim’s injuries; receipts for paid treatment; invoices for unpaid treatment. last pay stub showing what your weekly earnings are. Potential Settlement for a Workers’ Compensation Claim If a Nordstrom employee has broken his or her arm after falling off a ladder in the warehouse when removing stock from a high shelf to be transferred into the main store, he or she may be eligible for workers’ compensation for the injury. It should cover both medical treatment and a percentage of wages being paid at the time of the accident. There shouldn’t be any reason why he or she wouldn’t be eligible for workers’ compensation because it is a no-fault compensation so even if the victim was partially to blame that shouldn’t affect eligibility for the payment of workers’ compensation. With a broken arm and the nature of the job the worker should get coverage until he or she is fit to return to work Estimate of Workers’ Compensation Claim for a Broken Arm Cost of ambulance = $200. Cost of emergency room treatment = $1,000. Cost of cast for the broken arm = $300. Cost of x-ray =$200. Cost of painkillers = $50. Cost of cast = $100. Cost of removing the cast=$200. Cost of follow-up consultations = $1,000. Loss of wages for 8 weeks calculated at two thirds of $9 per hour = $6. 40 hours x 8 hours = $240 x 8 weeks = $1,920. Total workers’ compensation assuming it is a simple break could be $4,980 If your arm is weakened in some way and it is not expected to improve that much so you can never return to your usual job at Nordstrom there may be a job available which involves lighter duties but doesn’t pay so well. You may be entitled to a partial disability payment which is calculated based on two thirds of the difference of the two wages. This can be paid up to 500 weeks. For example, if you were being paid $360 a week before you broke your arm and then you returned to a "light duty" job that pays just $210 per week, you may be entitled to a partial disability payment of $100 per week. This is the difference between the two wages of $150, and two thirds of that amount is approximately $100. What Can Speed Up or Slow Down a Settlement? Statistics indicate that the average time to settle a workers’ compensation claim is 18 months. That is a long time if you are suffering financial hardship due to the effect of your broken arm. These delays are sometimes due to Nordstrom’s workers’ compensation insurer having a heavy workload and there is a significant queue for decisions on WC claims. Sometimes if the insurer is unsure about the truth about a claim and may try to speak with witnesses directly and ask questions that are hard to answer. If the insurer doubts that the claim is valid it may call in a doctor to give a second opinion about the diagnosis. If there is a document missing or details like the time and date of the accident cannot be found anywhere this could hold up a claim. If the claimant was drunk or under the influence of drugs and this contributed to the accident, the insurer won’t even consider a workers’ compensation claim. One of the best ways to speed up a WC claim is to get a WC attorney to scrutinize the documents that are providing the vital evidence to back up the claim. The attorney will go through each document in turn making sure that there isn’t any important detail missing. Small things like a date or a doctor’s signature could delay the application until it has been added. The attorney will go through each receipt and invoice to make sure the figures look right. Sometimes Nordstrom’s workers’ comp. insurer will insist that the claimant goes to another doctor for a second opinion, especially if there is any indication that the disability is permanent, meaning a larger sum of money will have to be released over a longer period of time. This can be avoided if there are no apparent errors or ambiguities in the evidence. Questions About Workers’ Compensation? If you were hurt during your shift at Nordstrom, you may have questions about workers’ compensation. To learn more about your rights under workers’ compensation law, contact a workers’ compensation lawyer. *The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Nordstrom, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
