As many as five percent of workers are injured at work every year, but most will not seek compensation. On the Law and Life podcast, TGB partners Barney Gask and Tim White talk about the reasons why.

Both injury lawyers believe there is a stigma associated with claiming compensation.

According to Barney and Tim, injured workers often fear that they will be labelled “compo people”, or general cynicism about their claim, despite having genuine entitlements.

Some injured workers also believe that lodging a claim will impact their current job, or ability to secure future employment.

“Even when people have made the claim and it’s before an insurer and the employer’s well aware of it clients will ask frequently “what are the implications of this for me now and in the future” with other jobs they might apply for. So, it’s certainly is at the forefront of mind for a lot of clients that we deal with,” Mr White told Law and Life.

“I think there’ll be a lot of employers out there who look after their workers and especially if they’re injured workers,” Mr Gask said.

“I mean we see that every day. But there are some who will treat them differently if they bring a claim. And look, to be fair to employers, whilst we represent injured workers the majority of the time, it can be a difficult process for an employer as well.”

Also in this episode:

– If a person has received workers compensation in the past, are they obligated to advise prospective employers?

– Is workers compensation fraud common?

– Is it possible to make a retrospective workers compensation claim?

– And more

The Law and Life podcast is brought to you by Tindall Gask Bentley Lawyers, a leading Australian law firm, with special guests.

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Need legal advice? Contact your nearest TGB office.