Injured While On The Job? Know These Three Things About Workers' Compensation

Law Blog

If you have suffered from a work-related injury, you may have done some research about making a workers' compensation claim. With all the information out there, it can be tough to determine what is important; here are three things every work injury victim should know.

Employer Fault Doesn't Need To Be Proven

The one thing that separates a workers' compensation case from a personal injury case is that you do not need to prove fault. This is quite different from what you may expect, but the laws in place prevent the need to prove fault when it is a workplace-related injury. If the injury occurred while performing the normal responsibilities of your job, that could be enough to make a successful workers' compensation claim.

Injuries Must Happen On the Job

Many people have misconceptions about whether or not where exactly the injury occurred has an impact on workers' compensation eligibility. It is important that you look at the nature of your job rather than the physical location that it happened in.

For example, if part of your job involves running errands where you make deliveries, an injury that happens as part of making these deliveries may be covered by workers' compensation. However, an injury that happens while you are leaving work to get lunch on your lunch break would not be covered.

You must look at the big picture of whatever task you were performing at the time. The task may not even be part of your normal responsibilities, but if it was requested from a boss or supervisor, any related injuries could cause you to receive workers' compensation.

Of course, your behavior that led to the injury can greatly impact your chance of receiving compensation. You may have technically been punched in and on the clock when the injury occurred, but you would not receive compensation if you injured yourself doing something that blatantly disregarded safety rules.

Employers Can't Deny You Compensation

Another misconception is thinking that your current employer has the ability to deny your claim for workers' compensation. They do have the ability to challenge the claim and prove that it is not valid, but at the end of the day, your employer does not have the ability to approve or deny the actual claim. This power belongs solely to the insurance provider.

If you feel like your workers' compensation claim was wrongfully denied, work with a lawyer to help file an appeal. Professionals like Shay & Associates can offer more information.

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