Just about everyone has heard of Workers’ Compensation – but do you know exactly what it is and what it means? The basic definition is that Workers’ Compensation is a type of insurance that provides medical and wage benefits to people (“workers”) who suffer an injury or illness in the workplace. These benefits can include covering the cost of lost wages, medical expenses and rehabilitation after an injury. Workers’ Comp also pays death benefits to the families of employees who are killed on the job.
In addition to providing benefits for injured workers, Workers’ Comp protects business owners from being sued by employees who are injured on the job. In this way, Workers’ Comp has certain advantages for businesses and their employees alike.
All states (with a few exceptions) require businesses that employ people who are not owners to purchase Workers’ Comp insurance coverage for their employees. What makes Workers’ Comp a bit complicated from a legal aspect is that each state has its own laws and programs governing Workers’ Compensation. For this reason, it’s important that you seek out an attorney who is experienced in the Workers’ Comp laws of your state if you are ever in need of legal assistance in getting a claim approved.
