Can workers who have suffered work-related injuries claim costs for subsequent treatment after terminating their employment relationship with their employer?

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Source: Qilu Evening News. Added on: 2016-12-28 11:14:54. Views: 112. The medical expenses incurred by workers who suffer work-related injuries during their employment are to be borne by the employer, in cases where no insurance coverage for work-related injuries has been purchased. But if, after the labor contract is terminated or ended, the injured worker still needs further treatment and incurs related medical expenses, should those expenses still be borne by the employer? Recently, Lanshan Court resolved a case of this kind. In July 2012, Wang Wei (a pseudonym) started working at a company in Rizhao as a belt worker; the company failed to enroll Wang Wei in an insurance scheme for work-related injuries. In June 2013, Wang Wei’s left arm was injured as a result of the belt on the machine shifting out of place; he was taken to Lanshan District People’s Hospital for treatment. His injury was determined to be work-related, and his labor capacity was assessed as being at grade 8 disability. Starting in October 2014, Wang Wei filed arbitration claims and lawsuits, seeking to terminate the labor relationship between the two parties and demanding that a company in Rizhao compensate him with a total of 150,000 yuan in amounts such as wages during the period of suspension from work with pay, one-time disability benefits, one-time medical benefits for work-related injuries, one-time employment benefits for disabilities, meal allowances, nursing fees, costs related to follow-up examinations, and transportation expenses for those examinations. After hearing the case, the court issued a judgment in March 2015 in favor of Wang Wei’s claims, and a company based in Rizhao had actually fulfilled the aforementioned compensation obligations. From June to July 2015, Wang Wei was admitted to Rizhao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital for follow-up treatment. In January 2016, Wang Wei filed another lawsuit in court, demanding that a company in Rizhao pay 5,000 yuan for subsequent treatment costs. After consideration, the court held that the one-time work-related injury medical allowance is a medical insurance payment made in a lump sum by the work injury insurance fund to workers who have been diagnosed as having disabilities of grade 5 or 6 due to work-related injuries and choose to terminate their employment relationship with their employers voluntarily, as well as to workers who have been diagnosed as having disabilities of grade 7 to 10 due to work-related injuries when their labor contracts come to an end or when the workers themselves decide to terminate the contracts. In other words, the one-time work-related injury medical allowance is a one-time work-related injury benefit that workers receive upon the termination of their work-related injury insurance relationship with their employers. When Wang Wei filed his first lawsuit, the court took into account the fact that he had suffered a work-related injury, as well as his medical condition and the degree of disability, and ordered a company in Rizhao to pay him a total of 150,000 yuan in compensation for wages during the period of suspension from work with pay, a one-time disability allowance, a one-time work-related injury medical allowance, a one-time disability employment allowance, as well as expenses for meals, nursing care, follow-up medical examinations, and transportation costs related to those examinations. Thus, a company in Rizhao is no longer under any legal obligation to pay work-related benefits to Wang Wei, with whom it has no labor relationship or work injury insurance relationship. At the same time, considering that the costs of subsequent treatment as claimed by Wang Wei did not exceed the amount of one-time work-related injury medical allowance already paid by a company in Rizhao, Wang Wei’s subsequent lawsuit demanding that this company cover the costs of subsequent treatment had no legal basis; therefore, his claims were dismissed. 【Judge’s reminder】After a worker suffers an occupational injury, whether to terminate the employment relationship depends on the worker himself. If an injured worker voluntarily ends the employment relationship, he is taking on the risk associated with his future medical expenses; once the worker terminates the relationship with the employer, it means that the insurance coverage related to occupational injuries comes to an end, and neither the social insurance agency nor the employer is anymore obligated to provide any compensation related to occupational injuries. Therefore, if a worker suffers an occupational injury, it is best to wait until they have recovered from treatment before terminating the employment relationship, so as to maximize the protection of their legitimate rights and interests.