Some employers will contest every single workers compensation claim that comes their way, for any number of reasons. In fact providing workers compensation was a voluntary decision on the part of any employer in the United States up to a little over 100 years ago. The establishment of the Worker\’s Compensation Board now provides for employees who have become injured on the job and especially for those who have suffered a permanent disability as a result of their injury to be covered and receive payments.
The basis of Worker\’s Compensation is that it\’s a \”no fault\” system where the employee will not need to prove that their employer\’s negligence was responsible for their injury. What this basically means is that regardless of how you were injured at work, even if it was your fault or the fault of another person, that you are still entitled to the benefits awarded through worker\’s compensation. It\’s also worth knowing that your entitlement to worker\’s compensation supersedes any extra clauses or provisions made in employment contracts – no contract of employment can remove your entitlement to receiving worker\’s compensation.
There are benefits to both the employee and employer in terms of how worker\’s comp actually works. An injured employee doesn\’t have to file a personal injury claim against their employer to be compensated. This type of claim might result in them losing their case and receiving no compensation as at all. Secondly from an employer\’s perspective it allows to them avoid massive compensation claims and the often unmanageable liability that comes with such claims.
If you\’ve been injured on the job and you claim for worker\’s compensation it can and does limit how much you can benefit financially as a result, worker\’s compensation claims being paid more as a weekly or monthly benefit to ensure that you can maintain your standard of living.
What people call \”No-Fault\” workers compensation is the same worker\’s comp that anyone in the United States is entitled to, as long as specific circumstances are met of course:
1. Your must be a legal employee of a company which has current worker\’s compensation insurance
2. Your injury must have occurred in the workplace and/or as a result of the duties required of you when performing your job
Interestingly enough the idea of worker\’s compensation is something which is almost unique to the United States. Even the United Kingdom has no comparable compensation insurance for employers, which has resulted in disgruntled employees being able to lodge personal injury claims resulting in payments of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
If you have been injured on the job or as a result of performing your work-related duties then it\’s important that you first seek medical attention and advice, then inform your employer of your injury and after that you\’ll need to document every step you take in relation to your injury and bring forth a claim to the nearest Workers\’ Compensation Board office as soon as possible.
Worker\’s compensation is there to protect you but there is a statute of limitations of 2-years on making a claim for your injury and the compensation which comes from that.