If you are a corrections officer on leave for a workers compensation injury, you should probably avoid getting dressed up in drag and competing in a public 40-yard dash, running in high heels. Nor should you work two other jobs while collecting workers comp benefits due to your inability to work. Come on people, you will have to do better than that – this is the work of fraud amateurs!
There is no shortage of resources for how to bilk your boss on the web, but many of them sound rather dubious. How to fake an injury is outright lame, but there is a little more thought put behind How to call in sick when you just need a day off – right down to short how-tos for creating illness sound effects. This would probably not faze your average HR director – they’ve heard everything. Every year, CareerBuilder does a survey to learn the worst sick day work excuses for the year. Forbes has an interesting slide show “Yeah, Right on the topic of work excuses.
There are probably few among us who haven’t taken a day or two here or there in the course of our careers, but there are some “excuse-mills” online who are upping the ante a bit. These are vendors who provide templated excuse letters for doctor visits, jury duty, and the like. For $24.95, My Excused Absence offers a series of templates, including an emergency room visit and a medical evaluation form. Of course, these are “for entertainment purposes only.” Phoney Excuses bills its products as “novelty excuses.” You can get a doctor’s note for $19.95 and the site offers explanations of the “legal aspects of a doctor’s note” and how doctor’s notes are important in workers comp, disabilities, or SSI. Fake Doctor’s Excuse are a bargain in comparison, only $9.95. They suggest their notes are for entertainment or novelty only, and might be suitable for framing. You can hang one in your cubicle. These forms sound pretty bogus to us – somehow the people who rely on them sound like also they might be the type of people to dress up in drag to run a high-heeled road race while out on disability.
Fraud is no laughing matter – it costs money for all the honest folks. Plus, in most jurisdictions, it is a felony. That being said, we’ve always found that estimates of worker fraud in workers comp are usually overblown. While there is indeed premeditated fraud and employers and insurers would do well to be vigilant and prosecute it vigorously when found, we find more abuse that falls in the category of malingering. An injury did indeed occur, and after time, the worker may fall into disability syndrome. It has been our experience that employers who have a good workers comp program encompassing both injury prevention and point-of-injury and post-injury management aren’t as susceptible to fraud as those who don’t.
Here are a few practices we would recommend for employers to deter fraud:

• Don’t adopt a suspicious approach. Did you ever have a teacher who made draconian rules for your entire class just to punish one or two bad apples? Those of us who did all resented it. Don’t build punitive or mistrustful programs to defend against the few bad apples in your workplace and risk alienating the vast majority of good people who work for you. Be fair, open, consistent, and honest. Treat the bad apples as exceptions not the rule.
• Explain the rules. Make workers comp a part of your orientation program just as you would any other benefit. Most employees (in fact, many employers) don’t understand what its purpose is or how it works. Better you explain it than the daytime or late night TV lawyers. First, explain your safety policies and your expectation that these will be followed diligently. Then explain what will happen should an injury occur. Explain how the benefits work and about your return to work program and your intent to take the best possible care of any injured workers. At the same time, note that fraud is a felony and will be aggressively prosecuted. If there are any professional fraudsters, they may move on to an easier target if you alert them to your tightly managed program.
• Stay connected. If an employee is out for more than a few days for an injury or illness, stay in good communication. Be supportive and let the employee know you value them and want them back on the team. Establish goals for return to work.
• Conduct accident analyses on every accident. It’s important to know what happened so that you can prevent future similar accidents. We use the term “analysis” rather than “investigation” intentionally – this should not be about blame, but about establishing the facts of the event and learning how to keep other workers safe. Train your managers to be alert for red flags that might indicate fraud and, if found, alert your insurer.

But the single best tip for preventing fraud?
Be a great employer who earns the respect of your employees.
For more information on insurance fraud:
The Coalition Against Insurer Fraud has links to insurer fraud bureaus, as well as a variety of other resources and organizations.