Sometimes you never know the kind of risk or danger related to your work. Imagine reporting to work in the morning healthy and coming back home having one hand amputated, in total blindness, or never returning home. Does your employer consider workers compensation as an important employee benefit?
Workers compensation is an insurance policy purchased by an employer to provide benefits to their employees in the event of an injury at work. It helps eliminate the financial sufferings and the illegal cases that may arise when an employee suffers an injury during work. Therefore, it is the employer’s responsibility to acquire workers compensation in Humble.
Types of Workers Compensation
The type of the workers compensation is dependent on the kind of work injury. Below are different types of workers compensation:
Disability Benefits
Unfortunately, an employee may acquire a disability from a work injury. Below are different kinds of disabilities that require workers compensation:
● Temporary Total Disability- The injured worker must be unable to return to work for at least seven days.
● Temporary Partial Disability- The injured worker is able to work even after the work-related injury but at a lower capacity such as fewer hours.
● Permanent Total Disability- Serious these are severe injuries, such as loss of two limbs or total blindness.
Death Benefits
Have you ever thought of the widows, children, and families who lose their loved ones from a work injury? Workers compensation provides benefits to the deceased families such as covers funeral and burial costs and also the family continues to receive some wages to support their basic needs.
Medical Benefits
Work injury may bring forth extreme medical costs to the injured worker. Workers compensation covers all medical costs related to the work injury until you are fully recovered. Such as medical tests, medicines, medical equipment, physical therapy, and any other related treatment costs.
Recovery Benefits
After a work injury, an employee may be unable to return to the same job position or place of work at all. Therefore workers compensation caters to rehabilitation benefits to enable you to maintain employment through training.
A Successful Claim Process for Workers Compensation After an Injury
To benefit from worker compensation there are specific actions to be undertaken as discussed below:
It is an employee’s responsibility to report an injury to his or her employer within the specified period fixed by the employer through a written notice or any other means of communication as set by the employee.
Once the employee reports the injury, the employer issues some necessary paperwork such as a workers compensation claim form and a first report injury form for the injured worker to fill in the required information.
The employers submit the injured worker claim forms and other supporting documents such as medical reports to the workers compensation carrier. If a claim is approved, the cost of medical bills, medicine, and disability payments for the injured worker will be catered for. Nevertheless, in some cases, the claim may be denied.
After successful worker compensation and the injured worker has fully recovered, he or she may return to work.
Both the employee and employer wish to work in harmony, maintain a long-time work relationship for the betterment of the work. However, some of the distractions such as injury, disease, death, and disability may arise during work. Luckily, workers’ compensation has your back!
Published by Simon Hopes