Workers’ Compensation
Have you had an accident at work? If so, it is possible that your employer has been negligent and you may be able to claim against their employers’ liability insurance. There are hundreds of ways that you can sustain an injury that was not your fault. A workers’ compensation attorney at Frank S. Buck, P.C., can help protect your rights and deal with evasive employers and insurance companies.
- Are you experiencing pain and frustration due to a work related injury?
- Are mounting medical bills keeping you up during the night?
- Are you worried about paying your next month’s bills?
- Are you struggling to fill out complicated Workers’ Compensation forms?
These are common problems faced by workers injured on the clock. We will cut through the red tape to help you get the compensation you deserve.
Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees that are injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee’s right to sue their employer for the tort of negligence. Every year, 1 million workers suffer as a result of being injured on the job. Some injuries are severe, requiring on-going medical treatment and extended time off work. Workers’ Compensation laws protect individuals injured on the job by providing regular income checks and medical treatment.
How Does Workers' Compensation Work?
A workers’ compensation lawyer may mention that every state mandates that companies carry workers’ compensation insurance either through a private insurer or the state, or the business can elect to be self-insured. Each state has different rules regarding what is covered, how issues are evaluated, how medical care is delivered and the benefits that an employee can receive, so it is important to check your specific state’s regulations. Failure to carry the required insurance can result in you paying for the benefits out of pocket, as well as penalties levied by your state. A workers’ compensation attorney at the Birmingham law office of Frank S. Buck Law Firm in Alabama can provide clarity and help you on this matter.
Workers’ compensation insurance provides for the cost of medical care and rehabilitation for injured workers and lost wages and death benefits for the dependents of persons killed in work-related accidents. A workers’ compensation attorney should explain that systems vary from state to state. You will need a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state to discuss the scope and provide clarity. Workers’ compensation combined ratios are expressed in two ways. Calendar year results reflect claim payments and changes in reserves for accidents that happened in that year or earlier. Accident year results only include losses from a particular year.
Who Does Workers' Compensation Protect?
A workers’ compensation lawyer will tell you that workers’ compensation should protect employers and employees. It protects employers by paying for costs associated with treating an employee’s work-related injuries or illnesses. Workers’ compensation protects employees by giving them financial recourse in the event of unexpected medical costs following a work-related illness or injury. It may also provide disability benefits, death benefits and replacement of lost wages while on recovery leave.
While accidents are more prone to happen in some industries than others, it affords protection to all types of businesses. Don’t think that because your employees work in a cubicle that they can’t be injured. Accidents can happen in every workplace.
Causes Of Workplace Deaths
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, transportation related accidents (including vehicle crashes) were the leading cause of workplace deaths in 2018, with 2,080 fatalities, accounting for 40 percent of the total.
In 2018 the highest rate of workplace fatalities was among fishing industry workers, logging workers, aircraft pilots, flight engineers, and roofers. These workers had fatality rates that were more than 10 times the all-worker rate of 3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Is my employer responsible for my accident at work?
Even if your accident was indeed caused by a colleague’s actions or negligence, your employer is ultimately responsible for keeping you away from harm in the workplace. By law, every employer has to have employers’ liability insurance to make sure that they can pay compensation for any accidents at work that result in illness or injury, without it affecting the company financially.
The cost for workers’ compensation insurance varies by provider and industry (high-risk jobs like roofing and construction carry higher premiums than office jobs, for instance). A company’s premiums can also either increase or decrease depending on the number of claims filed.
