Employers are generally required to provide workers' compensation coverage for their employees. This coverage helps workers who have suffered any work-related injury recoup lost earnings among other accommodations. Note that injuries which are only linked in one way or another to an employment condition are the ones covered under workers' compensation insurance. Read on for more insight.
How to determine a work-related injury?
As the name implies, a work-related injury occurs while an employee is doing a task on behalf of his or her employer or basically in the line of employment duty. Majority of injuries classified as work-related usually happen at the place of work. For example, this could include an employee developing lung cancer as a result of second-hand smoke at an eatery that authorises smoking or an employee developing carpal tunnel syndrome resulting from very many hours seated at the computer.
Additionally, injuries that also happen in company-owned transport trucks and other sites are also covered under workers' compensation as long as the personnel was handling something linked to his or her occupation. This includes social events and company parties organized by an employer, but not essentially on company-owned premises: for example, an employee spraining an ankle after tumbling from a telephone post.
If an employee sustains an injury during lunch break, they may qualify for compensation if the incident happened at the company canteen or on other company-owned grounds. Moreover, if an employee suffers injury in the line of duty, for example, while having a lunch meal with a business client at a local cafeteria, then the employer is liable to compensate the injured employee.
Injuries may be deemed work-related if liquor was involved at a work-sponsored party. Furthermore, psychological injuries including depression and anxiety may be compensated if they were as a result of the job or when an employee's already existing medical condition got further poorer during the line of duty.
Who is covered?
As stated earlier, it is the responsibility of employers to provide workers compensation coverage for their employees. This means that only the personnel properly categorized as employees qualify for this coverage and not independent contractors. Additionally, undocumented workers in the company's employee registry may not qualify for this coverage. Depending on your jurisdiction, specific types of workers may not be entitled to workers' compensation. These include seasonal workers, undocumented workers, domestic workers and agricultural workers.
Consult a compensation attorney with your claim
Ideally, your claim should be processed quickly to allow you to obtain all the appropriate compensation based on your injury. However, it's not always straightforward whether your specific injury is work-related or even covered in the first place, therefore it is important to contact a compensation lawyer from a firm like Williamson Isabella to get the facts right.
