Workers Compensation
Workers Compensation Insurance helps protect businesses and their employees from financial loss when an employee is hurt on the job or gets sick from a work-related cause. Workers’ compensation is also known as workman’s comp, workman’s compensation, and workers’ comp. These terms all mean the same thing and help protect workers from potentially devastating costs of work related injuries. It also helps protect employers from potential damages that could cripple a business based on workers’ comp claims.
What Does Workers’ Compensation Cover?
Workers’ compensation insurance helps cover medical expenses, lost wages, ongoing care costs, as well as funeral expenses if an employee is hurt, becomes sick, or dies as a result of a work-related accident or illness.
What Is Not Covered by Workers’ Comp?
Workers’ compensation insurance can help protect your business and employees in the event of a covered loss, but some situations take place on the job that are not covered by workman's comp insurance. These vary from state to state and are typically determined by different state laws.
Here are a few examples of what most workers’ compensation plans do not cover:
- Injuries received by a fight that an employee started
- Injuries an employee sustains due to being intoxicated in the workplace
- Injuries an employee gets intentionally
- Emotional injuries that are not accompanied by a physical workplace trauma
Who Pays for Workers’ Compensation Benefits?
Employers who do not pay for benefits typically purchase workers’ compensation insurance to cover the benefits for employees. Most states require businesses to carry workers’ compensation. Some states do not require it. In those states, coverage is elective.
What Should an Employee Do if Hurt on the Job?
If an employee is injured on the job, they should report the injury to their supervisor immediately. When the injury is reported, the report should include the date, time, and circumstances of the injury. Each state has different requirements about when an injury should be reported, but it’s always best to report the injury as soon as it happens.
Job-related illnesses that worsen over time should be reported as soon as a diagnosis has been obtained by the employee or as soon as they learn the injury or illness is related to their job.
How Do I File a Worker's Compensation Claim?
Filing a workers’ compensation claim as soon as possible is important. Report a workplace injury or illness if:
- The injured person is an employee of your business
- Your employee became sick due to their work
- The employee gets injured because of job-related duties
- If the employee gets hurt in the workplace
Make sure your employee gets the proper medical treatment if they’re injured on the job. If you need to, call the ambulance or take them to the emergency room. If their recovery requires time off from work, approve their request.
Before filing a claim, you'll need to gather a lot of information. The actual information you’ll need can vary from state to state. Some general information an employer and employee may need to include when filing a claim includes:
- Company information (account number and location, policy number)
- Injured employee information (name, date of birth, address, phone number, Social Security number, age, gender, etc.)
- Details of the incident (date of incident, type of injury, exact body part injured, the cause of injury, estimated number of days the employee will lose, anticipated return date, any witnesses, etc.)
Once the necessary information is collected, you should file the claim with your insurance company as soon as possible. This process can differ depending on the state your business operates in. States may impose a window of time business owners have to report the matter to their workers’ compensation insurance carrier. New York, for example, requires reports to be filed within 30 days.
How Does Workers’ Compensation Insurance Work?
Workers’ compensation insurance helps cover wages and medical benefits if an employee suffers a work-related injury or illness. The goal is to get your employees healthy and back to work as soon as possible.
If an Employee Is Receiving Workman’s Comp Benefits, Are They Eligible for Disability, Unemployment, or Social Security Benefits?
Employees receiving workers’ compensation income benefits are not automatically ineligible for the benefits above. One thing to note is the number of benefits due under other programs may be affected by workers’ comp benefits. Your company’s benefits office should be contacted for specific information regarding eligibility for long-term disability and unemployment insurance benefits.
Do I Have to Have Workers’ Compensation Insurance?
In most states, any employer with one or more employees is required to carry workers compensation insurance. Some states like Texas are exempt from this. Large employers may insure themselves, but they must apply with their state and meet strict self-insurance requirements.
It’s important to note that not all workers must be covered by this type of insurance. For example, workers’ comp doesn’t typically cover owners of the business, independent contractors, domestic workers in private homes, and volunteers. Some states also exclude seasonal workers when the work they do is not part of the employer’s regular business or profession. Other workers comp exemptions exclude certain agricultural businesses, construction businesses, charities, and more.
There are typically two options for buying workman’s comp insurance: private insurance companies and state-funded programs.
** The information on this page was directly pulled from The Hartford's website
