What Is Worker's Compensation?
Worker's compensation is something everyone has heard of. But not everyone knows what it is. Knowing more about it can help you if you ever need to have it.
Worker's Compensation
You may hear worker's compensation called workman's compensation or called worker's comp for short. It doesn't matter which name you use or how you classify this compensation; the terms all describe the same thing. Worker's compensation is an insurance policy that your employer takes out. The worker's compensation insurance is mandated by your state, and the terms of the benefits that can be paid out to you due to an injury are dictated by your state. What this does is make sure that you get some payments in case you are injured while you are on the job and cover your medical bills.
Requirements
Getting worker's benefits requires that you are injured on the job, no matter who caused the injury. However, there are some exceptions to this, and those exceptions may invalidate your worker's compensation claim, which will deny you any benefits. There are several things that could make up an exception.
Exceptions
The exceptions can include things about how the injury was caused. For example, if it turns out that your injury was deliberate or self-inflicted, the odds are that you have invalidated your claim. Another exception includes sobriety. Some states require that you be tested for alcohol or drug use for any injury that requires medical treatment. That can include something like an incision to your arm caused by a sharp piece of equipment that requires you to go to an urgent-care facility. Even if that injury isn't severe enough to require you to have to miss work or receive some worker's comp benefits, a state that requires drug and alcohol treatment will require you to be tested just because you had to seek outside medical attention. If your tests come back showing that you were under the influence when you were injured, you may not be able to get worker's comp benefits and may be liable for any medical costs due to your injuries.
Worker's compensation is there to help you if you need it because you have been injured at work. This coverage can cover your medical bills as well as payments if you have to miss work for a time or become permanently injured and are not able to ever go back to work. Knowing something about worker's compensation can help you.
Talk to a firm such as Gilbert, Blaszcyk & Milburn LLP to learn more.
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