I was recently contacted by a nice guy who broke his ankle on the job. It lead to a surgery and when we talked he was in the middle of physical therapy. His job requires him to stand all day so he couldn’t return at that time. But he was very honest that he never wanted to return because he was worried about having to stand even when the doctor cleared him to do so and because his boss is a pain in the butt which caused him to not want to go back ever again. So he asked me, “Can I quit my job right now?”
My advice was to not quit. Right now he’s getting 2/3 of his wages tax free and will continue to do so until his doctor gives him a full duty release or the employer comes up with a light duty job for him. If he quits, he will stop getting paid if the employer says that there is magically now a light duty job open and he could have had it if he hadn’t quit. Many insurance companies will tell the employer to create a job when they know that will give them the green light to cut off benefits. He’d still get his medical care paid for, but would be without money.
Now if he had a good paying job lined up that would accommodate his restrictions, quitting might be ok as long as he is sure that the job will be long term and there’s no real risk of aggravating the injury on the new job. Otherwise, the time to quit is when you have a full duty release and your employer wants you back.
Either way, never quit a job after a work injury without at least getting a consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney. Once you quit and lose some of your rights under the law, you typically can’t get them back.
We are workers’ compensation attorneys who help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
