Employers in every state are required to provide their employees
with worker's compensation. This is a form of insurance that pays
for the medical expenses of the worker. The medical payments from
this insurance acts like a type of health insurance for the injured
employee.
The worker must then agree to not sue the employer. The worker
compensation system is designed to compensate the worker for
injuries and loss wages. In fact, most worker compensation programs
will pay 3/4 of the wages of the worker. This helps to relieve some
of the burden of loss of income. The wages can be granted for past
and future wages. The severity of the injury will determine the
amount and duration of the workers compensation payments.
Dependents of a deceased worker can receive compensation for the
death. In these cases, the worker's compensation acts as a type of
life insurance.
Employees do not receive pain and suffering damages from the
employer. The employer can not usually be penalized for negligence
in these cases. The system seeks to solve all problems that arise
within the worker's compensation plan. Employees that have this
protection in place usually reside in a highly industrialized
nation. This protection is the end result of difficult battles
fought between labor unions and employers. The program is meant to
improve the working conditions of the employee, and the program is
also designed to provide some form of financial safety net for the
injured worker. Injury can make a worker financially vulnerable.
Although worker's compensation programs are extremely valuable, the
plan is still criticized for restricting the ability of the
employee to sue the company.
Employers usually delegate the worker's compensation program to
the Human Resources Department within the company. Those that are
injured must follow the company's rules to make sure that the
accident is properly reported. Most companies require the injured
party to notify management as soon as the injury occurs at work. A
report will be filled out to document the injury and the extent of
the injury. In some cases, the employee must go directly to the
emergency room, and the report must be filled out later. There are
strict time requirements for the report. Most companies try to
strive for 48 hours from the time of the accident. Every state has
a department that also monitors the timeliness of the claim being
filed.
Furthermore, it is important to receive medical treatment
immediately. Those who wait after the injury have a more difficult
time proving that the injury was caused solely by a condition at
the employer's work site.
