Workers’ compensation covers those suffering from a work-related injury or illness. These benefits provide workers with monetary compensation meant to cover medical bills, lost wages, physical therapy, and hospital stays. In return for this workers’ compensation insurance, employees promise that their company will not be held liable for any work-related damages, as a workers compensation lawyer in Wytheville, VA, like from The Law Offices of Mark T. Hurt, can explain.
Who Is Eligible for Workers’ Compensation?
In most cases, you must meet four requirements in order to be eligible for workers’ compensation.
- You must be an employee of the company where you received your injury
- Your employer must provide workers’ compensation benefits
- Your injury or illness must be work-related
- You must file your workers’ compensation claim before your state’s reporting deadline
These four basic prerequisites cover the majority of workers’ compensation claims. However, some categories of workers are still not eligible for workers’ compensation.
Who Is Not Eligible for Workers’ Compensation?
If you fall into the following categories, you may not be eligible for workers’ compensation:
- Business Owners: In most states, workers’ compensation benefits do not cover an business owners, partners or sole proprietors. However, some states allow these individuals to elect for coverage as company employees, but require them to pay workers’ compensation premiums.
- Child Caregiver or Housekeeper: In most states, private homes employing individuals are not required to provide workers’ compensation. In other states, only full-time domestic workers receive workers’ compensation benefits, leaving part-time domestic workers without coverage.
- Farmers: In most states, all businesses employing one employee must provide workers’ compensation. However, farms are exempt from these requirements, and have to decide whether or not to offer these benefits to their employees. In Texas, all agricultural workers, including seasonal laborers are completely covered.
- Temp Workers: Because temp workers are hired by employers for a specific job, they will receive workers’ compensation benefits if injured while performing duties for their temporary employees. In many cases, temp workers are considered employees of both their staffing agency and their temporary employees. This means that the employer and staffing agency must decide which entity is responsible for covering the benefits.
- Independent Contractors: Businesses are not legally required to provide workers’ benefits to independent contractors. This is because independent contractors act outside of the control of the hiring company and are providing a service to their “contract,” and not the employer.
If you were injured while on-the-job and meet the four requirements listed above, you should be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim. To ensure your filing process moves smoothly, contact a workers’ compensation lawyer today.