High school is a time for young adults to enter the workplace. Many of these hires are not educated on worker compensation. We were provided the opportunity to be given examples of true work scenarios. On Nov. 16, 2023, members of YES-RI, ( Young Employee Safety Rhode Island), came to Toll Gate to educate students on their rights in the workplace.
The speech was driven by Workers’ Compensation Court Chief Judge Robert M. Ferreiri and Nicholas DiFilippo, Court Administrator. They gave a spectacular speech and presentation that was engaging and offered chances for students to participate and laugh along. They provided tons of information and games including jeopardy that had kids get up and engage with the presenters. They showed visual examples of what safety and professionalism means compared to doing the job wrong.
One lesson that we learned was that it is important to keep communication with employees when performing hazardous jobs as well as industry standards. They showed students a true incident of a teen who lost an eye due to a work accident. It has completely changed his life, and it could happen to us too.
If you get hurt on the job whether or not it’s your fault, you are eligible for workers compensation. It was encouraged that teenagers should not suck up to corporations. It is intimidating, but refusal to speak up when injured can cause worse problems and prevent you from receiving compensation. Most injuries are not recorded because of young adult fear of being in trouble or losing the job. The best thing to do is report it.
We were given very impactful and valuable advice on navigating the process of reporting a workplace injury despite the stigma around young workers reporting injuries. By the end of the presentation we learned not only our benefits as young workers but also what we need to do if we need to access these benefits. Just because you’re young and you think it is your fault that you may have gotten hurt does not mean you do not deserve the compensation for which you are entitled.
