Worker’s compensation is generally described as a type of replacement payment for wages and medical benefits if a work is harmed while they are at their place of employment. The compensation is paid as a kind of trade off in exchange for the employee’s mandatory relinquishment of their right to sue for damages or negligence.
Let us suppose that a construction worker breaks his arm or crushes his hand while handling heavy equipment. In the event that he consults an attorney he might learn that the accident happened through the negligence of the company and not because of his own carelessness. In this type of case the company will offer worker’s compensation, which includes an insurance policy to cover wages and medical benefits while the worker recovers. This agreement is known as the ‘compensation bargain’, whereby they receive limited coverage and wage replacement but they trade that off by losing any legal recourse.
Jurisdiction and Injuries
Different jurisdictions have different workers compensation provisions, whereby payments can be arranged on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis. They can also include aspects such as reimbursement of medical payments, loss of wages, and payments for any dependents where a worker is killed while in the company’s employment. Employer negligence usually covers punitive damages as well as pain and suffering as a result of the accident. Many accidents require long term recovery, physiotherapy and healing time before the worker can return to the previous job they were doing at the time of the accident. In other cases they may not be able to return to that job at all and the company can offer them another job based on their current abilities, if one is available. A worker’s compensation attorney will lay out the terms of the compensation and assist their client in achieving maximum benefits. Some jurisdictions have set limits according to the kind of injury suffered. Some specific injuries can have a serious impact on the worker’s ability to carry out future duties for that company and effectively limit their earning capacity. For instance, if a construction worker loses a hand, they are not able to do the same job as they did before. In these cases, if a company cannot assign them to another duty they can be fired.
To find a worker’s compensation attorney contact Fleeson Gooing to find out how they can help with your worker’s compensation.
