Are you an injured North Carolina worker? Attorney Shannon Warf Wilson is a Board-Certified Workers’ Comp Specialist, and she knows everything there is to know about seeking workers’ compensation in North Carolina. She is here to answer your questions and help you seek the money you need and are legally entitled to so you can move forward from this difficult time in your life. Read the following transcript to learn what Attorney Shanon Warf Wilson has to say about being fired while receiving workers’ compensation.

Attorney Shannon Warf Wilson:
That’s a loaded question.

Speaker 2:
That’s why I like to ask them.

Attorney Shannon Warf Wilson:
North Carolina is an at-will employee, and what that means is you can get fired for any reason. You can’t be discriminated against. So they can’t fire just because you filed a workers’ comp claim. But your obligation when you’re out on workers’ comp is to keep your employer advised. And that’s either we do that, if we’re on board, of what your restrictions are and why you’re not working because sometimes there’s a disconnect on the employer not knowing why you’re not coming to work. And so you may have a no-call no-show, and if you get a certain number of those, they may terminate you.

So you have to make sure that you keep the employer advised, so they know why you’re out of work. An employer, depending on how big the employer is, you’ve got FMLA considerations. So an employer doesn’t have to hold your job if you’re out on workers’ comp. So you can’t be fired, you can’t be discriminated against because you have a workers’ comp claim, but you can be terminated for violating company policy or whatever that policy might be of letting your employer know why you’re not coming.

Speaker 2:
That makes sense.

If you were hurt while working in Winston-Salem or anywhere in North Carolina, our team can be your champion and help you seek the compensation you deserve. Learn more in a free case review.