Workers’ Compensation Insurance: On-the-Job Protection

If you've ever had a work-related accident that kept you home for several days, you may already be familiar with workers’ comp insurance. If you've never needed the coverage, just consider what would happen if you were to miss work for an extended period of time.

Workers’ comp insurance is mandated in most states to protect those in the employment of others. Worker’s comp insurance is required for the majority of traditional employees. Contract employees, leased employees and some other work-for-hire situations may be exempt from workers’ comp requirements. In addition, some officials of a company can choose to exclude themselves from workers’ comp requirements.

Workers’ comp insurance only pays for accidents and injuries that are work-related. If an employer is carrying workers’ comp insurance, employees won't receive benefits for a car accident that occurred on their personal time. It also won't pay for doctor's visits, medication, diagnostic tests or hospital stays, unless those costs are directly related to an accident or injury that occurred while the employee was on the job.

While the benefits for the employee are evident, there are also some important benefits for employers that obtain and maintain a quality workers’ comp insurance policy. The biggest is protection.

If you are a business owner, consider what would happen if one of your employees must miss work for an extended period of time after falling and injuring herself on the job. There's no need to worry about paying for medical bills, therapy or other health care needs for this employee. When you've got a workers’ compensation insurance policy, those needs will be provided.

There's another important benefit for the employer: the security of knowing that you're protected if an employee falls and claims that your negligence or carelessness caused the accident. A quality policy, including employer’s liability coverage, means you're protected from claims that you've failed to provide a safe working environment.

For the business owner and the employee, a quality workers’ comp policy simply makes sense. Few insurance policies can provide the peace of mind you'll gain from a workers’ comp policy.