People commit decades of their lives to career development. In some cases, they may have attended school well into their twenties. Other times, they may have started working at a young age to get the necessary experience to work in a skilled trade.
Those who aspire to great professional success often want to pursue promotions and better wages as their careers progress. Unfortunately, a major motor vehicle collision could very easily derail someone’s plans for their career. A crash can have a strong negative impact on how far someone will go in their career and how much money they will earn. These are some of the ways that a car crash can potentially affect someone’s professional goals.
They may miss key opportunities
Someone in the running for a major promotion at work could end up losing out on a once-a-decade opportunity because of the timing of a car crash. If their injuries put them in the hospital or diminish their job performance, they could lose out on a promotion or even involvement in a major project that would have taken their career to the next level.
They could lose their current job
A worker’s car crash might put them in the hospital for months or leave them in need of treatment that prevents them from doing their job as usual. Although employers may need to approve unpaid leave and allow someone to use their paid time off as they recover from crash injuries, severe injuries could require more time away from work than the law forces employers to accommodate. Some employers will either terminate or demote workers who miss months of work due to injuries in part because they need to replace that person. Either action can result in a major setback for someone’s career and a reduction in their long-term earning potential.
They might need to change professions
People in many skilled and highly-paid professions often do at least some of their work with their bodies. The injuries sustained in a car crash might leave someone unable to stand for eight hours or hold the tool securely. If the persistent consequences of car crash injuries prevent someone from continuing the same job they have always done, they may need to move into a lower-paid profession and give up their dreams of dominating a particular industry.
Understanding how a car crash could alter the course of someone’s career might help those experiencing professional consequences better develop an accurate valuation of their personal injury claim.