Don’t Lie Down and Take It—Getting the Lowdown on Workers’ Compensation

When you’re injured on the job, you might be confused about what should happen next. What’s the procedure you should follow? Who should you tell? Is it your fault? Is it the company’s fault? Should you be embarrassed that you had an accident at all and should therefore keep it to yourself? Tons of questions will swirl in your brain. You’ve heard much said about something called “workers’ compensation” but like a lot of people, you may be confused about this phrase, which sounds clunky and overly starchy. Relax yourself and take a deep breath, because workers’ compensation, as god-awful as it might sound, is a real blessing to workers who may qualify for their company’s protection.

Who Qualifies, and Who’s Plumb Out of Luck?

To qualify for workers’ compensation, you must be a civilian employee. That means if you’re an independent contractor at a company, for example, then you don’t qualify since you’re not on staff and are self-employed, and must take care of getting your own insurance. If you hire domestic workers and use them for more than 40 hours a week in some states, then you must get them workers’ compensation insurance, so they’ll be covered. Domestics, a category that includes workers such as babysitters, in certain states who work fewer than 40 hours don’t need to have their employers provide this kind of insurance, unless the employer wants to provide it regardless, which is fine. The most important fact to know is that workers’ compensation requirements vary by state, so the best course to take is to find out what requirements your particular state has in this regard.

Likewise, small-business requirements regarding providing this type of insurance vary by state and should be researched accordingly by state, according to the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade group that specializes in small-business interests.

Will You Automatically Qualify Because the Accident Was on the Job?

Just because you suffered an accident at the job site doesn’t necessarily mean the company’s going to have to foot the bill. It depends. Here’s a good case in point loosely adapted from Rebecca Shafer, a workers’ compensation expert and an attorney at Amaxx Risk Solutions, a risk management company: If a co-worker’s ex-wife shows up in a fit of rage and starts shooting up the place and you accidentally get injured, that’s not the company’s fault and they’re not required to cover your injuries under their workers’ compensation plan. On the other hand, if a co-worker storms into the office fuming that they’re dissatisfied with their performance review and starts shooting at the boss and you get hit, then the company is liable. So you see, it’s not always so black and white. Because of these vagaries, it’s a good idea to arrange to have a free consultation with an attorney who can help you determine if you qualify for workers’ compensation benefits.

When to Tell?

The time to tell someone you’ve been injured and start filing a claim is immediately. Don’t wait, because if you wait you make things worse. It becomes harder to tell if the injury was really due to an incident on the job or whether it actually happened elsewhere. As soon as you can, tell someone in HR or the risk management department or your manager, and file your claim. Now, of course, if you’re seriously injured and must go to the hospital, then that’s not the time to dash into HR demanding a claim form. It’ll wait.

What to Do If Your Company Refuses

If your company tries to act as if they’re not responsible when in fact your doctor has made it clear that your injuries are the direct result of the company’s negligence in some way, don’t let that stop you. Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance called no-fault insurance—you might be familiar with this because no-fault car insurance is popular—which boils down to the fact that it doesn’t really matter whose fault it is if your claim is due to some accident that happened on the premises, like slipping and falling on the spilled coffee in the cafeteria because the cleaning lady forgot to mop it up. The insurance company still has to pay up, according to Patricia Kagerer, the vice president of risk management at Jordan Construction.

Going Forward

With this newfound knowledge, you should be better equipped to act in the best way should an accident arise on the job in the future. Should something occur, remember to act fast to file your claim and do so within three years from the date of the accident. If you follow this guidance and are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, you’ll receive them with no problems.