Walmart Texas Associate Employee Work Injury Plan / Policy

Walmart in Texas has an associate, or employee, injury policy that is used when a Texas Walmart employee is injured. It has numerous provisions and should be provided to an injured employee. Walmart indicates that it created the plan to provide a better system to help associates/employees who are hurt at work in Texas. The plan covers all associates/employees of Walmart Inc. in Texas, and it provides certain benefits to injured Texas Walmart employees. There is apparently no waiting period before wage replacement benefits begin.

The plan requires that all accidents and injuries be reported immediately. As of the time of this post, that likely means within three calendar days following an occurrence leading to an injury. However, it is wise to immediately report any injuries as required by the plan and or other Walmart rules. When an injury is reported, Walmart and or its designated adjusters will handle the claim. If an employee is not satisfied with how the claim is handled, the Walmart plan allows an appeal to an appeals committee.

The plan also includes an arbitration provision. Arbitration is a private process that is used instead of a lawsuit. A person subjected to arbitration will not be able to have a jury decide a claim. Instead, such claims are resolved in a proceeding in a conference room, with usually an ex-judge presiding.

Our Texas work injury law firm has handled a number of arbitration cases over the years, many of which resolved before the final hearing, but some of which required a final hearing, which is similar to a trial, to resolve a person’s work injury claim. While employers such as Walmart prefer arbitration, it is our opinion that arbitration does not generally benefit an employee as opposed to litigation. Regardless, an experienced Texas work injury lawyer will understand arbitration and how to use procedures in it to attempt to obtain a good result for an injured worker.

Arbitration is usually facilitated by an arbitration administrator. These administrators are private companies, and there are a handful in Texas which we commonly see. We will at times see agreements with the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, and/or Judicial Workplace Arbitrations. Each administrator has different rules, and each administrator typically has a different panel of potential arbitrators. An experienced Texas work injury lawyer will possess information regarding most potential arbitrators.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.