It is a legal requirement for employers to provide their workers with a safe work environment. They must also provide health insurance, short and long-term disability benefits as well as death benefits. After all, no workplace can be 100% safe for workers. Accidents can occur for one reason or another. Employees can also develop serious illnesses after working at the same facility or doing the same job for a long time. The best way to protect employees from workplace risks, is to enroll them to the workers’ compensation insurance scheme. In most states, eligible employers are required by law to enroll all their employees to this scheme. Failure to enroll an employee usually comes with serious penalties.
Workers’ comp insurance provides employees with guaranteed medical benefits and income benefits when they get injured at the workplace. When an employee gets injured, therefore, the insurance scheme will pay for all essential medical costs related to the workplace injury or illness. If the employee has to stay out of work for over a week, the scheme will also pay wage replacement benefits in terms of temporary disability benefits. In case of permanent disability, long-term disability benefits will be paid to the injured worker. There is also the death benefit and burial benefit. The best thing about workers’ comp is that there are strict federal and state guidelines governing the system. Therefore, there are many guarantees. In addition to that, the medical benefits do not have a limit, so you can get the treatment you need to get well regardless of the cost.
Workers Comp Alternatives
It is important to note that workers comp insurance is not mandatory in many states. What every employer is required to do is provide their employees with a great health insurance plan as well as an insurance policy to protect them against income loss occasioned by work related injuries. There are many private insurance providers with amazing plans that can meet the coverage needs of both workers and employers as well as the minimum requirements set by the state.
What You Need to Know About Alternative Plans
Private insurers usually have coverage limits for the premiums paid by each employee. When looking for a suitable cover for employees, therefore, employers need to look for policies that offer the widest and highest liability coverage limits. The inpatient and outpatient coverage limits must be taken into consideration before premiums can be paid. The short and long-term disability benefits offered by the accident cover should also be taken into consideration.
With workers compensation, employees usually give up the right to sue their employer for the injuries they sustained or illnesses they developed while working for them. If your employer has not subscribed to the work comp system, therefore, you can sue them for the injuries you sustained. The best thing about this is that you can still retain your job even after winning a huge court award as it is illegal for an employer to victimize employees for seeking legal redress.