Social Media Investigation in Workers Compensation
What do risk management and your employees’ social media have to do with each other? You may need one to reduce your exposure in the other, especially when it comes to worker’s compensation claims.
Today, our digital footprint is large, especially our social media footprint. This exposure can be as a result of an individual’s direct actions or those of their family, close friends, and associates. Further, some adults will post almost every aspect of their lives online. Therefore, social media investigation is an important avenue for employee workers compensation claims investigations.
More of a podcast listener? Use this link to listen to a full-length interview we did with Nate Reber of PrimeSource Investigations:
https://anchor.fm/call-your-broker
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Thinking outside the box for risk management
Worker’s compensation claims investigations are no longer limited to in-house data. This is essential where there is no data to rely on – no security camera footage or eyewitness accounts. That’s where social media investigation comes in. Plus, with social media evidence being admissible in court, it’s vital not to forget this route in claims investigations.
One of the main ways in which social media evidence is used is checking for inconsistent information. You look at an employee’s social media presence to see their daily lifestyle in relation to the specific claim. For example, an employee claims that they suffered a knee injury on the job. However, there are several social media posts of the employee engaged in sports activities after the date of the incident.
The impact of social media investigation on worker’s compensation claims
When things aren’t adding up, then it’s time to bring in a social media investigative expert to help put the pieces together. Not every claim will need to be investigated or require that you hire a private investigator. However, you may see or be given information that raises red flags. In these instances, you need to start investigating an employee compensation claim, and include social media investigation.
Because of the power of social media, you need to ensure that your investigations are done properly and within legal constraints. For example, social media investigations focus on publicly available information. It is not about hacking into anyone’s account.
Social media investigation can either legitimize a claim or prove worker’s compensation fraud. Finding the right surveillance operatives to do this type of research is important. Therefore, your risk management initiatives must include provisions for investigations of claims. This can certainly reduce your liabilities to fraudulent workers compensation claims against your company.
