Continuation of benefits if WC is from old employer

[avrho]

If an employee sporadically misses work and then ultimately goes on WC related to an old employers injury and claim, do I need to continue paying the employee their salary and benefits while they are not performing any work for me? If I continued their salary and benefits expecting a short duration, which was not the case, do I have any recourse from the old employer or their wc carrier to reclaim any of those expenditures? This old claim was unknown when this employee was hired.

Thanks for any assistance or where I might look for ideas.

 

[army judge]

If an employee sporadically misses work and then ultimately goes on WC related to an old employers injury and claim, do I need to continue paying the employee their salary and benefits while they are not performing any work for me? If I continued their salary and benefits expecting a short duration, which was not the case, do I have any recourse from the old employer or their wc carrier to reclaim any of those expenditures? This old claim was unknown when this employee was hired.

Thanks for any assistance or where I might look for ideas.

When the employee missed work, you could have fired him/her.
Because you failed to address the absences, guess what?

You aren't paying the injured worker anything.
Your insurance carrier makes those payments.
You have no recourse, unless the employee lied on your employment application.
That is due diligence.
If you failed to do it, then your insurance carrier is on the hook.
Trust me, once the claim gets going, if there is something unusual, the insurance company will address it.

What benefits are you paying?
Unless California has some law requiring you to continue benefits, you aren't required to do so.
Knowing CA, however, I'll bet they have such a law.