Made into law in the United States in 1902 every employer must be covered by a workers compensation insurance company in case of an employee injury. This law protects both the worker and the employer for any accident that occurs on the job or while working elsewhere for a company. Every employer must have coverage with an insurance company.
Having workers compensation coverage is essential to be sure that any employee injured on the job will receive the required doctor or hospital care as well as lost wages while disabled. In addition, should he or she be killed their family will receive benefits. Long term care, retraining and rehabilitation are also covered. Prior to this law, many people were injured or killed on the job with no type of compensation.
The rules and regulations concerning this fund vary from state to state. However, in California an employer has a choice of obtaining this insurance from a broker, a private insurance carrier or choose to use coverage by way of the California State Workers Compensation Fund. The State Compensation Insurance Fund is a division of the California Department of Industrial Relations.
The rules regarding workers compensation coverage are quite complex and are periodically amended. Any employer or employee who has questions should consult with someone who is knowledgeable on the subject. However, there is no exception to the rule that the employer must have this insurance.
Unless an employee has provided written notice regarding what physician to contact in case of an injury, the employer chooses who is to be contacted. If no notification is given the employee must wait 30 days before changing doctors. On occasion this is noted on the employment papers.
There is a waiting period of three days after an injury before a claim can be filed for benefits. This period is rescinded to the date of the accident if the employee is hospitalized or is off work because of the injury, for a period of 14 days. The Federal Government also has special compensation for specific injuries from certain government projects.
A worker cannot collect workman compensation coverage if they are injured through their own negligence or because they are intoxicated. On occasion, where there is a worker who is denied benefit that there will be a case with a lawyer and Workers’ Compensation Litigation. In this case the workers compensation insurance company would be involved.
Get the inside skinny on the requirements of an employer and a workers compensation insurance company now in our workers compensation coverage review.
Comments are closed