Here’s a question from a reader that seems to come up a lot

Do I have to use my own sick days to attend doctor appointments related to a work injury?
Or do those follow the same guidelines of, after 3 days missed the insurance pays compensation?

It’s a common scenario.  You are hurt at work, but able to keep working.  You aren’t injury free though and have to see a doctor because of your accident.  Often times this means missing out on part or all of a day of work.  The question is, do you get paid for that time off and if so who pays for it?

The answer depends on your injury and the type of medical care available to you.  If the only option is to see a doctor during work hours, meaning that no other doctor could treat you before or after work, then workers’ compensation should pay you for any missed time.

On the other hand, if you could see a doctor after hours but choose to do it during the work day then you either don’t get paid or would have to use vacation pay or PTO through your employer to get compensated.

I was previously in physical therapy for example and went to one 6:00 p.m. session. I hated it because it was crowded since it was a popular time for treatment because it was after working hours for most people.  The PT people offered that I could come during the day and if this was a work injury and had I done that, I wouldn’t have been able to be paid by work comp for my time off because I did it out of my convenience.

While Illinois work comp laws are generally pretty friendly toward the injured worker, this is one of those situations I think is unfair.  But my job isn’t to tell you what I think the law should be, it’s to tell you what it is and how we can help you within the law to achieve success on your case.

The flip side to this situation would be if my doctor was a specialist and the only one in the area who could provide medical care for me and he only had appointments during my work time.  In that case work comp would have to pay me for missing work days to get medical care.

Like this reader, if you have any questions about if you about this or anything else, fill out our contact form or give us a call.  It’s always FREE and confidential.