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Reasons That You May Have A Workers' Comp Claim If You Work In HR

27 March 2019 by Richard Ramirez

People often associate workers' compensation claims with physical injuries suffered on the job, such as a construction worker who falls off scaffolding or a warehouse employee who hurts his or her back lifting something heavy. In reality, even those who don't perform physically demanding jobs can file workers' compensation claims because of emotional injuries in many states. If you work in human resources, it's unlikely that you'll sustain a physical injury on the job, but you may have grounds for a workers' compensation case because of emotional distress. Here are some reasons that you may be able to make a claim.

Verbal Abuse From Staff

Working as a human resources professional can be emotionally difficult because you're often speaking to people when they're being terminated or disciplined. The result can be that people lash out at you, even if you're technically a neutral third party. You might have relatively thick skin and be able to slough off a handful of incidents of verbal abuse, but they can take their toll over time. Eventually, you could be dealing with anxiety or depression that you feel has a direct link with these difficult exchanges with employees.

Frequent Terminations

HR professionals perform a wide range of duties, including helping in the hiring process, assisting employees with their benefits, and terminations. The latter is likely the most challenging part of your job, but it's something for which you've been trained. If there are multiple HR reps at your place of work, you might feel as though it's fair for you to each have to perform terminations. However, if your manager has made terminating employees your primary responsibility, perhaps to the point that you're dealing with this unpleasant task weekly, you may suffer from emotional distress and feel that your manager's decision to task you with the terminations has led you to your current state.

Lack Of Support

Given the challenges of their jobs, HR professionals should receive support from those above them. This could be a weekly meeting with a manager to allow you to express the stress that you've faced during a particularly difficult workweek, for example. However, if your company doesn't support you in this manner, you may notice that your anxiety and emotional distress are constantly climbing. Each of these factors could lead to a successful workers' compensation claim, especially if you hire an attorney who has a lot of experience in representing clients who are dealing with emotional issues.

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