Rules And Limits Of Workers’ Compensation
Individuals in construction and various types of contractor work accounts for a large chunk of any city’s labor force. Whether it’s fixing up an old structure or building an entirely new one, it takes a large crew with people skilled in engineering, architecture and most importantly “building” in order to complete a structure.
Most construction work is very dangerous and risky. One could be building at great heights if the building is planned to have several stories. One could be working with potential exposure to unsafe voltages of electricity that could discharge in the vicinity of a construction worker if the electricity source is mishandled or set up haphazardly. That said with so many potential hazards it’s only natural that any individual working in this industry should have access to insurance. We usually refer to this insurance as “worker’s comp;” and as the name implies, it’s a business insurance that provides benefits to employees who suffer from any work-related injuries or illnesses. This can pay for medical care, wages from lost work time and other applicable benefits.
Often, a worker is injured in an act of negligence committed in part or in whole by a representative of the company. It’s incidents like this that one think’s that even though they receive workers comp for their injuries and wages, I still think I deserve more for their negligence especially when it’s the company that’s supposed to protect me.
If someone is receiving worker’s comp, that usually bars someone from suing them. It’s a tradeoff that you have guaranteed wages and paid medical bills in exchange for the right to sue the company that hurt you. You can however still have a case if the incident in question involves one or more of the following loopholes:
1. Your injury was caused by the negligence of a third party that doesn’t work for the same employer or company as you.
2. The negligent actions that caused your injury involved an illegal substance.
3. Your employer’s intentional conduct was very likely to cause serious harm or even death to their employees involved
4. Your injury involved a defective product, which would then be grounds for a claim against the product’s manufacturer.
And finally, you can definitely sue a company directly in a personal injury claim with the help of a personal injury attorney, like from NYU Global if the employer doesn’t carry any proper workers compensation insurance at all. There are criminal and civil penalties that can be imposed if the company can’t maintain a proper worker’s comp insurance.