Workers' compensation is insurance that provides cash benefits and/or medical care for workers who are injured or become ill as a direct result of their job.

Monroe One pays for this insurance, and does not require the employee to contribute to the cost of compensation. Weekly cash benefits and medical care are paid by the Monroe One insurance carrier, as directed by the Workers' Compensation Board. The Workers' Compensation Board is a state agency that processes the claims. If Board intervention is necessary, it will determine whether that insurer will reimburse for cash benefits and/or medical care, and the amounts payable.

In a workers' compensation case, no one party is determined to be at fault. The amount that a claimant receives is not decreased by his/her carelessness, nor increased by an employer's fault. However, a worker loses his/her right to workers' compensation if the injury results solely from his or her intoxication from drugs or alcohol, or from the intent to injure him/herself or someone else.

A claim is paid if the employer or insurance carrier agrees that the injury or illness is work-related. If the employer or insurance carrier disputes the claim, no cash benefits are paid until the workers' compensation law judge decides who is right. If a worker is not receiving benefits because the employer or insurance carrier is arguing that the injury is not job-related, he or she may be eligible for disability benefits in the meantime. Any payments made under the Disability Program, however, will be subtracted from future workers' compensation awards.

If you can return to work but your injury prevents you from earning the same wages you once did, you may be entitled to a benefit that will make up two-thirds of the difference. You may also return to work in light or alternate duty before you are fully healed.

• Notify your Supervisor of any injury or accident
  
  
• Go to a Nurse and complete the Accident Report. You will be given a copy for your records
  
  
  

Additional Medical Care

• Notify HR at 585-383-2251 as soon as possible if you plan to seek additional medical care. The processing of your claim will begin as soon as HR is notified so that a claim number can be assigned. You will be receiving Claimant Information forms directly from Rochester Area School Workers Compensation Plan.
  
  
• When you go for additional medical care immediately following an injury or in the future, you must tell the medical professionals that the injury is work-related and the insurance carrier is:
  
  Monroe #2–Orleans BOCES WC Plan
  3599 Big Ridge Rd.
  Spencerport, NY 14559
  Attn: Bridget Livingstone
  Phone 585-352-2709
  Fax 585-352-2427
  
  
• Obtain a note from the medical professional stating why you cannot work and for how long you will need to be out. Send a copy of the note to HR and notify your department. You may need a new note if the time needs extending.
  
  

Returning to Work

• Before returning to work, you will need a note to authorize your return—with or without restrictions. Send a copy of that note to HR and notify your department.
  
  
• If you have restrictions, wait to return until you hear from HR or your department.
  
  
• Transportation Employees Only: Notify the Transportation Office as soon as you have a return to work date.
  
  

Attendance Days

• While you are out, you will need to use your available Sick days.
  
  
• Once those days are exhausted, you will be paid directly by Worker’s Compensation in accordance with New York State’s Workers’ Compensation Law.
  
  
• When your claim is closed, you may be reimbursed for sick time lost. A waiting period of 7 days absent along with a doctor’s note is required for reimbursement.
  
  

• When you are injured, report to the nearest nurse’s office as soon as possible (within 24 hours). This includes the nurse in a district building.
  
  
• Let your Supervisor know of the injury as soon as possible.
  
  
• The nurse will record the injury and may recommend that the employee seek further medical assistance if necessary. Please keep a copy of the report if not completed on the BOCES’ Accident Report.
  
  
• If further medical assistance is required, be sure to inform the medical professional that this is a workplace injury and communicate this information to your Supervisor and Human Resources. Any medical documentation needs to be faxed to the Workers’ Comp clerk in Human Resources at 585-249-7235.

If you have a work related injury offsite:

1. Go to the Nurse on duty at your work location and have them complete an Accident Report. Be sure to obtain a copy of this report.
   
   
2. Contact a BOCES’ Nurse to have them complete a BOCES’ Accident Report. You can call or see the Nurse in person. The number to call is the Creekside Health Office at 585-383-6416.
   
   
3. Notify your Supervisor as soon as possible.
   
   
4. If you need treatment for your injury at a hospital, Urgent Care or your doctor, you must mention this is a work-related injury. Our Workers’ Comp insurance information is listed below.
   
   
5. Bring your original Accident Report with you if you are seeing the Nurse, or fax it to the Human Resources Office at 585-249-7235.
   
   
6. If you seek medical care for this injury and/or miss multiple days of work, HR will submit a Workers’ Comp claim and you will be contacted directly by our insurer below. If you have any questions, please call Human Resources at 585-383-2251.
   
   

BOCES’ Workers’ Comp Insurance Carrier:

Monroe #2–Orleans BOCES WC Plan
3599 Big Ridge Rd.
Spencerport, NY 14559
Attn: Bridget Livingstone
Phone 585-352-2709
Fax 585-352-2427

If it is necessary for an employee to go to the emergency room or doctor’s office before a Nurse’s Report is completed, the employee must call the nurse as soon as possible.