Figuring Out How Worker's Compensation Works
Getting hurt during the job can become painful in more ways than one. Not only is a person physically injured, but he or she can lose income due to the the injury. What's more, there can be medical bills to deal with. Fortunately, most employees today are covered by a program known as Worker's Compensation.
Worker's compensation refers to a state-run insurance program that protects the majority of workers should an on-the-job injury or an illness that results from working conditions. Exempted from this coverage are agricultural workers including farm owners and crop harvesters; domestic employees such as maids, housekeepers, butlers and the like; independent contractors of any sort; and employees of small businesses with five or fewer workers.
Worker's compensation programs were set up to accomplish two things:
1. They make sure that anyone who's hurt while working, or becomes sick because of the work they do, receives adequate monetary benefits to replace ages and pay medical bills;
2. They protect employers from costly liability lawsuits over worker injuries, and they protect workers from having benefits cut if they are injured or become ill because of some action of their part.
While each program varies in some details, all are set up to provide monetary benefits to a worker whose injury or illness resulted originating from a job-related accident or from the conditions of employment. Examples of this could be someone who breaks a bone in a fall, some who loses hearing as caused by working in a noisy environment, or someone who suffers repetitive stress injury from excessive typing.
If a worker is seriously injured or ill, worker's compensation also will pay for vocational rehabilitation such as physical therapy or training for a different job. Some programs also pay workers for loss of future earnings, if the injury prevents them from continuing in a higher-paying occupation than they can pursue because of a disability. If a worker is killed on the job, the program pays funeral costs and survivors may receive benefits to replace the deceased's lost wages.
A worker who's injured on the job should first file a claim form, available from the employer. Next the worker can expect to undergo an independent medical examination by a physician chosen by the employer's insurance company. It's important for the employee to pay close attention to the doctor's diagnosis, to ask questions and to make notes of the examination afterward.
If injured on the job, or made ill by toxins or working conditions, it's important that workers report the injury and file worker's compensation claims immediately. managers and supervisors should offer workers claims forms to fill out. it may also be wise to consult an attorney who specializes in worker's compensation law, if the worker suspects the employer or the insurance company could challenge his or her claim.
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