Avoid daily reminders about filing workers' comp claims

Q   We are considering having employees sign a form during their exit interviews affirming they weren't injured on the job. It's been suggested we could have current employees sign a similar daily form at the end of each shift. Can you provide advice on whether this is a good idea and offer some insight?

Having employees affirm each day whether they had a work-related injury that day is not a good idea for several reasons:

Limited legal effect. The affirmation wouldn't constitute a waiver of an employee's right to file a workers' compensation claim for an injury she failed to report on any given day. Workers' comp laws vary widely from state to state. However, many states, including Ohio, provide that waivers or releases of workers' comp claims aren't valid unless the state's Bureau of Workers' Compensation is a party to the release.

An employer could use the daily affirmations of "no injury" as evidence in defending against a workers' comp claim, but an experienced attorney might be able to raise doubts about the argument.

An alternative approach that is somewhat less invasive of employees' sensitivities to giving daily written affirmations would be to establish a work rule requiring them to report any and all workplace injuries or illnesses immediately.