Human Resources:

Worker Compensation

It’s sad news when one of your workers gets injured. Every man and woman that works for a company plays a vital role in its success and growth. When a part of that company can’t work for a certain period of time, it affects everyone. Every company in the U.S. must deal with a worker’s compensation claim. Companies dealing with on the job injuries spent over $100 billion dollars last year alone. Obviously no one can stop them but you can learn how to protect your company against spending too much money and avoiding lawsuits.

It’s rather simple, buy worker’s compensation insurance that pays the employee’s medical costs and pay lost to injury. Many states allow you to do this except Texas. But there are also differences in the kind of insurance that you can get, which varies from state to state. These are usually the amount of the wages paid during the injury, how long they would keep paying an employee, and how much insurance coverage they can have. The insurance can be purchased from a single state run agency or the private insurance companies that have deals with the state. The state also offers help to companies unable to purchase worker’s comp insurance.

These insurance coverages can be very costly and a strain on the company budget. You have to make sure that you are spending your dollars on the right kind of injury. Fraudulent injuries are the norm these days. Insurance companies try to investigate them all. But obviously a few slip through. The only way to help them is for you to keep your eye on the workers and their behaviors. Any employee who injures himself while drunk or high on drugs doesn’t qualify for worker’s comp. Also, any one that is injured away from the workplace or off-duty doesn’t qualify either. A few states don’t allow part-time workers, contractual or volunteer workers to receive worker’s comp.