There are Worker’s Compensation Laws in effect which protect employees who are hurt on the job. Employers are generally required to furnish worker’s compensation insurance. This insurance covers employee injuries irrespective of how the accident occurred and who is at fault. The only requirement is that the employee be injured during the “course and scope” of his or her employment or, in other words, while on the job.
An employee who is injured on the job can file a claim with the worker’s compensation carrier for benefits. In general, workers compensation provides replacement income (2/3’s of the employee’s salary while injured), payment of medical expenses, and vocational rehabilitation benefits if necessary. Employees may also be eligible for life-long benefits or a lump sum payment if they are permanently hurt while on the job. A key difference with worker’s compensation, however, is that employees do not get to collect “pain and suffering damages” which is a large component of personal injury claims.
Employees who are hurt on the job may also have a “third party” claim against the person that caused the accident, if that person is not the employer. In many circumstances employees are hurt on the job by someone other than their employer. In that case the employee can and should pursue both a worker’s compensation claim and a civil claim against the responsible party. This is important because the employee can recover “pain and suffering damages in the third party claim, but not the worker’s compensation claim!
