Have you suffered an accident while at work? If you have, you will most likely be put on leave and receive compensation for the time you are off work. If you were forced to leave because of an injury, you should be able to return to your old position or get assigned to a similar role. In our blog today, we will discuss what happens if your company does not have a job to offer you when you return, a process that is called reinstatement.
California does not have any law that forces an employer to reinstate an employee. Still, they have a law that prohibits employers from firing someone who left due to workers’ compensation. This means that if your employer wants to fire you, they need to have a very legitimate and business-related reason to do so. For example, a reasonable basis could be that due to the injury, you are permanently unable to keep on performing your duties or that the disability caused by the injury will last so long that the employee has to be replaced.
If the injury is severe enough, you still could return to work due to ADA. ADA is a federal law that requires companies with 15 or more employees to provide safe spaces for workers with disabilities. So, if your injury is classified as a disability, your employer still has to attempt to find work for you either by changing your role or accommodating your work area.
Lastly, your employer should be motivated to keep you because if they fire you, they will have to give you a bonus. This voucher can be used for education, training, licensing, or counseling and will only be given to you if your employer cannot find work that is a suitable alternative for you. So if you have suffered from an injury during work, you have a lot of protection, and your employer has a lot of reason to keep you.