Workers Comp Insurance – Mandatory Business Coverage
Workers compensation insurance is mandatory in all states nationwide. You may have heard it called ‘workers comp’ for short. It’s insurance that will provide for medical care for an employee should they get hurt on the job. This also protects the employer from being sued by the employee.
It’s not limited to just injuries sustained while on the work premises. It may cover employees who are en route to another destination, but on company business and meet with an accident. It can also cover things like illnesses. And most states require a company to have it by law.
This insurance will serve as compensation for an injured worker for the time they spend away from the job. It doesn’t bother with who’s to blame for the injury, it deals more with getting the proper treatment and the proper compensation for the circumstances. Each state has it’s own laws concerning it.
Companies who seek to buy workers compensation insurance, must do so separately from any other forms of insurance they may carry. Business owners policies, or ‘BOPs’, come as separate packages and will not include workers compensation for injured workers. They are not the same, and must be purchased apart from one another.
Early in the 20th century, people began an outcry against the destructive circumstances left to those who were hurt on their jobs. The working conditions were extremely dangerous, and their outcry was heard. Thus, the workers compensation insurance was born. No longer would injured workers be left high and dry to fend for themselves.
Both social security insurance and unemployment insurance are younger than workers compensation insurance. In 1910, California first put it into effect, and most off other states followed suit. This type of ‘no-fault’ insurance protected both employer and employee from harm and damages.
This insurance carries many benefits as far as what type of treatment an injured employee may receive. Whatever the circumstances of the injury are, the coverage should be sufficient for a reasonable treatment of the injury. There are things like ‘temporary disability benefits’, ‘permanent disability benefits’, vocational rehab, and many other services available.
Any worker who gets injured on the job has a right to treatment. Workers comp will see that they get it. From hospitalization right down to physician care, it’s designed to care for the employee in whatever way is reasonable for alleviating the pain and circumstances. An employer must act within 30 days for arranging treatment.
When looking under Part One of the workers comp policy, you’ll find an agreement by the company to cover all compensation in a prompt manner. The payments are actually ‘imposed’ upon the employer by law. The law in question is ‘Workers Compensation Law’, and if not through that, then it’s done by the laws of the state listed on the policy.
A licensed insurance company must be used for purchasing workers compensation insurance. Or the option remains to go through the State Compensation Fund, otherwise known as the ‘SCIF’. A broker-agent can sometimes be of assistance for purchasing insurance and for getting information about the SCIF.
Workers Compensation insurance is a law, and a right. Anytime you choose to take a job, you should know whether or not that employer has workers compensation insurance or not. If not, you will have to work there at your own risk. It really doesn’t pay to do this, because accidents happen, and if it happens to you without workers comp, it can be a devastating experience.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment