It is important to understand both the principle of workers compensation and the practical application, which can differ significantly by area and geographical base.
Principle
The principle behind most workers compensation laws go back a long time, most of which are intended to provide some type of financial compensation to employees who are injured or involved in an accident at work, irrespective off whose fault it is.
The legislation will normally apply to all types of businesses, including farms and agricultural concerns, but there may be certain limitations as to who is eligible for any benefits.
This normally relates to issues around full time, part time, seasonal or voluntary workers, the amount of money they earn and the number of hours they are involved in working for the business.
Application
Legislation of this type tends to differ by state, with each state having its own compensation laws and requirements, as well as some type of federal provision for federal employees.
The intent of workers compensation is to provide monetary assistance to an employee if they are injured or damaged as a result of an accident during any working employment.
Certain conditions will apply, such as if the employee is permanent or part time, or what is sometimes referred to as casual labour.
With regard to agriculture and farming, this is an important distinction as often farms will employ casual staff on an ad hoc basis when there are staffing requirements as a result of seasonal product needs.
It is worth noting that some states will have a minimum number of hours or days worked during the year in order for an employee to qualify for workers comp – some states will allow an aggregate of hours or days to build up in order to meet and comply with these requirements.
Some states may in additional requirement in terms of the amount of money that an employee has received during the course of a year, and they may or may not apply the same aggregate requirements as referred to above for hours or days worked during the year.
Some states will also limit payment to a relative proportion of the state average weekly wage, other states may be more flexible.
As with most types of personal injury claims, there is likely to be a medical assessment of any injury or damage at the outset of the claim, and depending upon the length of time that the employee is off work, there may be regular or constant medical appointments as follow-ups in order to assess the progress of recovery, and a likely return to work date.
Employee Responsibilities
In order to qualify for any workers compensation law benefits, the employee will have to have met certain conditions, similar to those that apply to any type of normal insurance claim.
The nature of any conditions may vary according to state, and it is important that any employee be aware of the legal obligations under state law, otherwise there is a good chance that any claim will be rejected.
Some of the most common conditions include :
The employee has to notify the employer of any injury or accident that happens that may result in a possible claim. There is normally a time limit, which is quite often restrictive in terms of number of the number of days when the employee must notify the employer of the accident.
It is a good idea to notify the employer verbally, if possible, and follow up with a written confirmation of what has happened, with copies kept by the employee.
The written notification can either be handwritten, typed or by e-mail and should include relevant information such as time and date of the incident, observation of any specific circumstances such as poor lighting, debris, lack of machinery guards etc.
The employee should keep photos wherever possible, and details of any other employees who may have witnessed the incident or accident.
Depending upon the nature of the accident or injury caused to the employee there will be a scenario where the employee is able to return to work or not.
If able to return, there may be legislation in place by the state that allows the employee to have an expectation they can be retrained in a different job if necessary, or transferred to a type of work that takes into account their injury or disability.
This is often referred to as work transfer or transfer of work and is something that will likely need to be negotiated with the employer either directly or through a trade union if applicable.