Employers purchase insurance that covers any accident, injury, or illness that may occur to their employees. This workplace insurance is known as workers’ compensation, and it has benefited injured or ill workers across the United States for about a century.
California businesses are required to have workers’ compensation in place to cover their employees, no matter if a business has one employee or 1,000. Think of workers’ compensation as your employer looking out for your well-being, if something were to happen to you at work.
Receiving Workers’ Compensation
An employee can receive workers’ compensation regardless of whose fault an accident or injury is when it takes place on the job. Workers’ compensation is a social benefit system that is designed to help all parties. The worker gets the treatment he or she needs and the employer gets that employee back on the job more quickly.
If an employee was at fault for the accident that hurt him or her, it does not matter in the workers’ compensation “no fault” system. The worker can still receive treatment covered by workers’ compensation.
Protection
Workers’ compensation protects both employee and employer. For one, the employee is covered regardless of who causes the accident. Secondly, the employer is protected from the worker filing a lawsuit. A lawsuit can become expensive to deal with and can bankrupt a business in the end. By purchasing workers’ compensation insurance, the business covers itself.
According to one California insurance watchdog, workers’ compensation premiums for 2016 were up 3% compared to 2015.
How Much Can You Get?
Workers’ compensation covers the medical treatment you receive for an injury or illness. In some cases, it could be the reimbursement of money you spent to treat the ailment. Some of the items that can be covered are lost wages, medical bills, and disability benefits. If you have lost a loved one to an accident on the job, workers’ compensation can also cover a work-related death.
Although insurance experts believe California to be stingy with workers’ compensation payouts, a March 2017 settlement saw Boram Teresa Choi receive $10 million for brain injuries sustained during a car crash. The settlement is believed to be the largest in the state’s history.
Choi was left permanently disabled after her car went off the road and hit a tree on the Interstate 10 freeway. One of the reason’s Choi’s settlement was so large was down to the future medical costs and lost wages she would have earned. Add in the past medical bills, the changes that needed to be made to her house to accommodate her and the 24-hour medical attention she now requires, and the $10m settlement makes complete sense.
Strassburg, Gilmore and Wei Can Help
The law firm of Strassburg, Gilmore and Wei can provide you with legal guidance when it comes to catastrophic injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Located in Pasadena, California, Strassburg, Gilmore and Wei, Attorneys at Law, is available to give you insight on difficult matters. Visit our webpage to see how we can help you. If you have any questions, contact us and let our experienced attorneys in catastrophic injury and wrongful death go to work for you.