Employee Rights and Workmans Comp
If you have been injured on the job, you may be eligible to receive workman's compensation benefits. The term "workman's comp" refers to a group of laws that are designed to protect the rights of employees. Workman's comp laws ensure that workers who have been injured on the job receive, "appropriate medical care, lost wages relating to the on-the-job injury, and, if necessary, retraining and rehabilitation," according to ExpertLaw, an online legal information database.
Other People Are Reading
-
Benefits
-
Each state writes its own workman's comp laws, so the benefits vary from state to state. In most states, workman's comp will pay your medial bills for injuries sustained on the job. You may also be entitled to job retraining if your injury prevents you from returning to your old job. If you are unable to work, you could be eligible for wage replacement. If an employee is killed on the job, their family may be eligible "for worker's compensation benefits, typically including burial allowances, according to EmployeeIssues, an online resource that offers general information about employee rights.
Wage-replacement
-
If you are injured on the job and are unable to work, you can expect to be paid two-thirds your gross salary. These payments are not subject to income tax, so your take home pay should be close to your regular wage. If you are a parent, you may be entitled to additional money called "dependant allowances." Some states cap the total amount of money an employee can receive in workman's comp payments, according to EmployeeIssues.
-
Types
-
There are two types of workman's compensation benefits: permanent total disability and permanent partial disability. EmployeeIssues reports that permanent total disability means employees have sustained injuries that "will keep him or her from working forever." Permanent partial disability means that the employees will be able to work again as soon as his or her doctors believe the employees are ready to work.
Exceptions
-
You won't be able to get workman's comp benefits if your employer can prove that your injuries were the result of "willful misconduct or from intoxication," according to ExpertLaw. In some states, agricultural and domestic workers are either excluded form workman's comp benefits or receive less coverage. In other states, employers are not required to offer workman's comp so long as they have fewer than a certain number of employees, according to EmployeeIssues.
-
