Workplace safety should be on the mind of every business owner, but employees need to keep safety front and center as well. Workplace injuries can lead to many problems, including missed time from work, large medical bills and pain and suffering.

While no workplace injury is a good thing, worker's compensation insurance can help to cover the costs associated with injuries on the job. What confuses many workers and employers, however, is the standard an injury case must meet to qualify for worker's compensation. Does an injury need to be disabling to qualify? What if the injury was the worker's fault?

Different States, Different Standards

While it would be nice to have a singular standard to determine the qualifications for worker's compensation, different states have different standards. This is why employers and workers must know their rights and obligations in the states where they work or perform services.

For instance, general contractor insurance may be required in one state but not another. Suppose a contracting business operates in multiple states but doesn’t carry general contractor insurance in a state where it is required. In that case, the fact that the company has this coverage in other states doesn't matter. You must have the right coverage for the state where the company operates.

Who is at Fault?

In general, worker's compensation usually requires that the worker not be at fault in their own injury case. This means that if a worker is found to have taken an action that led to their injury, worker's compensation typically doesn't apply. However, if a dispute arises about whether the worker caused their injury through negligence or other means, the case may need to be brought before a judge for a civil hearing.

A worker's compensation case can be a long and arduous process in court. Many experts may need to testify to get to the truth. Therefore, all parties in the case will want to save as much documentation as possible regarding medical bills, eyewitness testimony of the incident and more.

Author Resource:-

Emily Clarke writes about sales and business automation tools for construction companies and contractors. You can find her thoughts at contractor estimating software blog.