Location: TEXAS
I’m hoping someone here is more knowledgeable about workers comp/employment law than I am because this entire situation has been confusing, poorly communicated, and honestly feels completely mishandled.
I work in Texas for an ABA therapy company. I got injured at work and was placed on workers comp and followed by light duty restrictions here recently. From the very beginning, almost nothing was properly explained to me.
Nobody really sat me down and explained:
• how workers comp payments would work
• how reduced hours would affect my income
• whether my employee benefits would continue during leave/light duty
• whether premiums would continue accruing while I wasn’t receiving normal paychecks
• whether I had the option to suspend or terminate benefits
• or how repayment would eventually happen if deductions weren’t coming out of checks
I basically had to figure everything out myself while injured, stressed, and trying to survive financially.
Things got worse when I was told I needed to return to work for only 2 hours per day on restricted duty. I pushed back because my injury restrictions specifically made me concerned about being placed with aggressive clients again. I was trying to advocate for myself and avoid reinjury while still complying with returning to work.
Right after those conversations is when HR informed me that I supposedly owed money back for benefits premiums.
Originally, HR told me I owed around $173. During that conversation, I was trying to ask questions because I genuinely did not understand what was happening financially. Instead of explaining things clearly, the conversation became rude and dismissive. At one point I was literally laughed at while trying to understand my situation.
Later on, I received another communication saying the $173 was apparently ONLY for April, and that the actual amount owed was much larger.
That’s when I was sent a repayment agreement claiming I owe $1,252.89 total for medical, vision, disability, and life insurance premiums that continued accruing while I was out/restricted.
So now I’m sitting here wondering how I went from:
“you owe $173”
to
“actually you owe over $1,250.”
The repayment agreement says they want to deduct about $100 per paycheck for 10 pay periods, but the math itself doesn’t even fully add up to the stated balance. It also says deductions may increase another $25 as my hours increase, but doesn’t clearly define a maximum deduction amount or whether additional balances can later be added.
At the exact same time, workers comp says THEY also overpaid me and are recouping money back from my checks.
So currently I’m dealing with:
• reduced light duty income
• fluctuating workers comp payments
• workers comp recoupment deductions
• HR demanding benefit repayment
• and regular bills/rent/life expenses on top of all of it
Right now, between my reduced work schedule and workers comp adjustments, I’m barely bringing home enough to stay afloat. After taxes, bills, gas, groceries, insurance, and normal living expenses, there honestly isn’t much left over to absorb hundreds in additional payroll deductions.
What really bothered me is that I had to start researching all of this myself because almost nothing was proactively explained.
When HR finally sent over the repayment agreement, I noticed it specifically cited Colorado wage law (C.R.S. § 8-4-105) regarding payroll deductions even though I physically work in Texas for a Texas location. The company operates in multiple states (to my knowledge Colorado not being one of them), which may explain the template, but it immediately confused me and made me start researching wage deduction laws myself.
While researching, I found information stating that payroll deductions generally cannot reduce employees below applicable minimum wage requirements. That became another concern because my income is already heavily reduced from workers comp/light duty restrictions.
So I emailed HR asking for clarification on:
• why Colorado law was being referenced for a Texas employee
• how the repayment numbers were calculated
• how payroll deductions would comply with wage and minimum pay requirements
• whether additional balances or deductions could later be added
• when and how I was supposedly notified that benefits would continue accruing during leave
• and whether I was ever given the option to suspend or terminate benefits while injured
Another thing that didn’t sit right with me:
One of the HR representatives told me I had to return to work this week on restricted hours. During that conversation, my injury related medical appointments were brought up as conflicts with the work schedule, and there were discussions about whether those appointments could be moved or changed around.
These were not random personal appointments. They were appointments directly related to treatment and recovery from a workplace injury. So being put in a position where it felt like my medical care was becoming an inconvenience to scheduling honestly felt incredibly inappropriate and added even more stress to an already difficult situation.
I understand employers wanting repayment if money is legitimately owed. I’m not trying to avoid responsibility. But this entire process feels extremely poorly communicated and financially crushing while already dealing with a workplace injury.
At this point I’m trying to figure out:
• Are employers supposed to clearly explain that benefit premiums continue accruing during workers comp leave/light duty?
• Should employees be offered the option to suspend or terminate benefits?
• Can payroll deduction agreements be written this vaguely?
• Can deductions legally reduce someone below minimum wage thresholds?
• Is it normal to pursue repayment while workers comp income is still fluctuating?
• And can employers pressure employees regarding injury related medical appointments conflicting with work schedules?
Because right now it honestly feels like I got hurt at work and somehow ended up financially punished for it.