Employee Workplace Injuries

According to United States laws, the employee is obligated to pay for workers compensation if the company consists of five employees or more. However, if the business has less than five employees, they will need to acquire an exemption and inform their employees that they do not have coverage and will not be eligible for workers compensation. If they do not file an exemption and inform their employees, the company will be required to cover the expenses.

The workers compensation program will provide the employee who was injured on the job with a certain amount of monetary benefits until the employee who was injured can return to work.  The benefits offered by the program often include coverage of medical expenses as well as any lost wages.

Unfortunately there are some individuals who will take advantage of the workers compensation program.  This issue raises suspicions as to whether or not the employee is being truthful in regards to the injury and if it was actually an injury in the workplace. In some cases if the employee who was injured in some way, the employer may dispute as to whether or not the disability actually prevents the employee’s ability to come back to work.

Independent Contractor Injury

When you are an employee of a business and you are injured on the job, you are not able to sure your employer. You will only be able to collect workers compensation as a legal means for compensation, unless you have a third party claim.

However, more and more companies are hiring independent contractors as a means to cut costs and taxes. In this case, the independent contractor can sue the business that hired them if the injury was a result of negligence of the company or one of its employees. If the contractor has workers compensation insurance, they can still file a lawsuit.

While the independent contractor can sue the company at fault, they will still need legitimate proof that there was negligence on the company’s part.  If the contractor can prove there was negligence and pursue with a lawsuit they may receive payment for lost wages, emotional distress, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more. These payments are more likely to be much higher than what the workers compensation program will offer.

Related Legal Information: Workplace Injury. The Barber Law Firm serving clients throughout Texas.