What is Workers' Compensation?
Workers' Compensation is insurance that by law your employer is required to carry in case an employee is injured on the job, becomes ill due to circumstances surrounding their job or even if death results from the job. Benefits include medical expenses ,lost wages, vocational rehabilitation, and burial/funeral costs.
Workers' comp exists both as a way to benefit injured workers and as a way to protect employers. Before workers' comp laws existed, serious injury to an employee could bankrupt an employer because employees could sue them. Workers' compensation is a no-fault insurance system. Negligence on the part of workers or employers is not an issue in paying benefits.
Who is responsible for providing the benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act?
By law the employer is responsible for providing Workers' Compensation Insurance. In some instances, the employer provides benefits directly by being self-insured. Otherwise, the employer provides the benefit indirectly through a Workers' Compensation insurance company. A worker cannot be charged for benefits provided or any portion of their employer's Workers' Compensation insurance premium. Texas is the only state that still allows private employers to choose whether or not to maintain workers' compensation insurance.
Is workers' compensation the same as State Disability?
Workers' compensation is only for injuries or illnesses that occur due to employment. State Disability is for injuries or illnesses that are not work related. You can file a State Disability claim, but you cannot be paid both workers' compensation and State Disability for the same period of time. However, if your workers' compensation temporary disability rate is less than State Disability, then you may be paid the difference. If your employer's insurance company denies or delays payment, you may be able to receive State Disability temporarily.
What injuries are covered by the Act?
Any worker who has been injured on the job has a potential Workers' Compensation claim. As long as your injury is job-related, it's covered. In addition, you are covered if you are injured while traveling on business, performing a work-related errand or even attending a required business-related social function. Any injury or illness that occurs due to employment is considered a workers' compensation injury. Under workers' compensation law, you will receive help if you are injured no matter who was at fault. Some types of workers' compensation injuries are: broken/fractured bones, back problems/pain, knee problems/injuries, grip loss, heart attacks, hypertension, wrist injuries including carpal tunnel syndrome, burns, shoulder pain, neck pain, headaches, etc. You may be entitled to benefits even if you are still working.
Does an injury need a specific date of onset in order to be covered?
Your injury does not need to be caused by a specific accident such as a fall. Many workers receive compensation for repetitive trauma injuries such as back problems that are caused by overuse or misuse over a long period of time in the performance of their normal work activity. You may also be compensated for some illnesses and diseases that are the gradual result of work conditions such as lung disease. Because symptoms with these types of injuries reveal themselves over a period of time, the worker might not associate the eventual diagnosis of the injury as work related.
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