Facts About Worker’s Compensation and its Coverage

Every company should have a compensation plan for their employees and workers; the benefits that come with it are essential to keep people safe and covered financially if an accident occurs.

On-the-job injuries are always a possibility, so you need to do everything in your power to prevent them, but also be prepared to help your employees when an accident happens. 

Whether it’s medical bills, compensation for damaged belongings, or even disability payments, you need to learn some facts about them and coverage plans, too.

It’s a requirement for all employers

You need to understand that it doesn’t matter what line of work you’re in or where you’re based at, there must be a worker’s compensation plan for every employee.

Companies that are functioning in the Palmetto state are obligated by the law to have proper documentation of this type of coverage; you can ask any workers comp lawyer in South Carolina about it to understand more, that regardless of fault, the worker/employee should qualify for these benefits if the injury took place during an activity that is in the interest of the employer.

Not having a proper plan and clauses in contracts stating this can result in numerous lawsuits that may be extremely detrimental to the company’s reputation and resources. 

Some injuries might be outside the scope of coverage

Even though legislators and lawmakers work hard on making these rules applicable and fair for employees, they must be fair to the employer at the same time, too. In some rare occasions, a worker will not be eligible for any compensation. 

It would never help their case if any of the following applies to the sustained injury:

• If the injury occurred is self-inflicted on purpose.
• If the employee has violated the company’s policy.
• If the injury occurs when the employee isn’t on the clock or it’s their day off when it happens.
• If the employee commits a felony/crime at the workplace and gets injured in the process. 
• If the worker or the employee in question is a private contractor.

The benefits you can expect

Most of the benefits that you can expect to receive as an employee would be monetary compensations for the accident, payments for disabilities, reimbursements for your medical bills, compensation for damaged belongings, accessibility tools, rehab coverage, and family benefits with burial costs if there was a death.

The plans are different for each state and company; there should be proper documents that have detailed data about the coverage scope, who would be covered and by how much, the types of injuries eligible for it, the excluded injuries, and the length of time available for filing for claims. 

It depends on the kind of state fund

Every employer pays the coverage fees to the state’s fund; the government has different compensation programs for each group of employees, depending on the line of work. So, the cost of the benefits can vary based on the gross payroll of the company and the various injuries that the employer is bound to deal with at the workplace.

To put it simply, if the workers were coal miners or working in a manufacturing company, then the compensation would be much higher than employees that work in a professional practice.

Discrimination and fraud will never be tolerated 

If an employer decided to fire or retaliate against an employee that is eligible for worker’s compensation, then that would be against state and federal laws and could result in numerous lawsuits, fines, and revoked work licenses.

In addition, the same goes for fraudulent employees who falsely claim they have sustained an injury and submitted fake medical documentation of treatments and medication. This can result in tremendous fines and possible jail time. 

When to sue employers

If the employee agrees to collect the compensation benefits, then they give up any right to file different lawsuits against their employer, and their case wouldn’t hold in court.

However, some cases might be plausible in court if the injury in question is intentional on the employer’s part and if it happens outside the scope of the job description or assignment. These can hold in court and might reward hefty compensations, depending on the severity of the situation.

If only it were possible to fully avoid any injuries from happening at all in the workplace, but sadly it is not. All employers should keep their work environment as safe as possible and assure the workers and employees that whatever happens, they would be well taken care of. Everything should be done properly when it comes to compensation coverage for every staff member.