If you get hurt on the job, it's important to understand your legal options. In most (but not all) cases, workers' compensation may be your only means of receiving compensation for a work-related injury. In this article, you'll learn the basics of workers' compensation and who may be liable for on-the-job injuries.
Workers' compensation may be the only means of recovery for work-related injuries or illnesses. You typically can't file a civil lawsuit against your employer for work-related injuries. Instead, you must file a claim through your state's administrative workers' compensation agency.
So, workers' compensation is a tradeoff: in exchange for forfeiting their right to sue their employer for work-related injuries, employees can receive benefits for work-related injuries no matter who was at fault for their injuries. This is known as the "compensation bargain." Most employers are required to pay into the workers' compensation system by purchasing insurance for their employees.
Not all injuries suffered by an employee are subject to the exclusivity provision of workers' compensation statutes. Some exceptions include:
Since workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy for an injured employee, contributory negligence on the part of the employee (shared fault for causing the injury) does not affect the employee's right to benefits. For example, if the employee handles a machine improperly and, as a result, the employee is injured, the employee's own negligent handling of the machine does not reduce the employee's workers comp benefits.
Nevertheless, there are some exceptions to this general rule. Some states preclude workers' compensation benefits in the following circumstances:
Intentional, self-inflicted injury. If you intentionally injure yourself, you may have your benefits reduced or you may be barred from receiving any workers' compensation benefits. However, if the self-inflicted injury was the result of a work-related injury (physical or mental), then you might still be able to receive benefits. For example, the family of a police officer who died of suicide was not barred from receiving workers' compensation benefits where it was shown that there was a "chain-of-causation" between the officer's suicide and traumatic work experience, long hours, and fatigue from being in charge of a town's rescue efforts during a flood.
Intoxication. Intoxication (such as being under the influence of cocaine or alcohol at the time of the injury) may result in reduced benefits or may completely bar workers' compensation benefits. Once an employer proves that you were intoxicated at the time of the injury, the burden shifts to you to prove that the intoxication did not contribute to the accident.
Violating an express company safety policy. If you violate an express company safety policy and, as a result, are injured, you may have your benefits reduced or be denied benefits. For example, if your employee handbook requires you to wear a safety helmet, you fail to do so, and if the use of the helmet would have prevented the injury, your benefits may be reduced.
If any of these factors contributed to your injury, your claim may be denied.
Typically, an employer is only required to purchase workers' compensation insurance for its employees. So, independent contractors are not covered because they are not employees. However, an injured worker thought to be an independent contractor may have been misclassified.
Whether or not someone is an employee or independent contractor is determined by a judge or referee at the Workers' Compensation Board, not by the employer and employee. How the parties actually label themselves may be considered, but those classifications don't usually determine the outcome of the case.
See Eligibility for Workers Compensation Benefits for more detail.