As a business owner, you want to trust your employees 100%. While the majority of your employees are most likely honest, do not be fooled! There may occasionally be a case where you find out that an employee is taking advantage of the company’s Massachusetts workers compensation policy.
Fraud is a common issue of the workplace. While most employees are sincere about their injuries, all it takes is one dishonest worker to cause enormous damage to your premium. Why do employees do this? Money is a powerful motivator, or even extra vacation time.

Since an employer may end up paying higher premiums due to fraudulent claims, it is important to understand how fake claims work. Here are five fake claims to be aware of:

#1: Malingering: An employee may stay home longer by claiming they are still “disabled” when in reality, they are fine to return to work.

#2: Fake injury: Believe it or not, but some employees will make up an injury. Common claims: muscle problems in the back or neck. These are hard to disprove, making it easier to get away with.

#3: Inflated injury: The employee may claim they have a damaged back, when in reality they are only suffering a minor ache.

#4: Old injury: Perhaps an older injury did not heal well. Employees may claim that they were “injured” recently and need time off.

#5: Hurt OFF the job: An employee may pull their back while doing yard work over the weekend. Once they arrive to work, they may claim that they were injured while lifting heavy boxes at work. This is an easy way to collect.

It’s a shame; you provide Massachusetts workers compensation to your employees and risk the chance of being taken advantage of. This is not acceptable and if you are not careful, you may end up paying for this issue in the long run. While it is important to trust your workers, always be on the lookout. We hope these five scenarios have given you better insight into this problem!

Come back and visit our blog next week to learn about the price you will pay for a fraudulent claim!