when an employee is injured disabled or dies while on the job the employee or their survivors are entitled to workers compensation coverage a benefits under this type of insurance the employer pays certain benefits such as medical care lost wages and rehabilitation costs 3
the benefits of workers compensation are generally awarded on a no fault basis as long as the employee is not under the influence of drugs including alcohol employees are usually required to submit to a drug test following an on the job accident many workers compensation incidents provide partial reimbursement of lost wages and survivor benefits in the event the worker is killed while on the job 2workers compensation part a satisfies state insurance requirements 3 it funds employees medical bills related expenses and lost wages in the case of a covered workers compensation loss payments made are normally based on predetermined schedules in the case of defined injuries expenses are paid accordingly as the adjuster calculates them if a company fails to carry workers compensation coverage it can result in fines ranging from 1 000 to 10 000 or more and even jail time depending on the state or jurisidction workers compensation part a has no policy limits and the insurer instead pays all benefits required by the workers compensation law of any state listed in the declarations however the employer can be held responsible for payments made by the insurer that exceed regular workers compensation benefits 2 under such circumstances an employer would be responsible for such payments due to the following under this misconduct the employer is responsible for reimbursing the insurer for any payments that exceed regular workers compensation benefits special considerationsworkers compensation part a is legally mandated in nearly every state in the united states and is a significant expense for employers employers may pay more if the company has had a certain number of previous claims or if its employees have certain occupations that are deemed dangerous workers compensation coverage continued to grow in every state per the national academy of social insurance the most recent data for 2018 shows a 7 2 increase from 2014 to 2018 in covered jobs this puts the number of covered jobs to just over 142 6 million for 2018 meanwhile covered wages rose 8 7 over the same period however employer costs rose 3 5 and benefits paid fell 1 7 4workers compensation part a vs part bworkers compensation part b also covers medical care lost wages and rehab costs for employees who are injured on the job but unlike part a part b coverage covers employees when the employer is liable through negligence or otherwise which is also why it s called employers liability coverage 52while part a covers state requirements part b pays additional damages up to certain limits meaning that part b includes part a but goes beyond part a s coverage payments for part b are determined based on the type of injury policy terms and the insurer example part b limits may look something like part b is not commonly used but there can be circumstances in which having this policy benefits the company most commonly these occur when the company is sued by a family member of the injured party or by a third party part b can also be needed if the damages owed go above and beyond part a coverage example of workers compensation coverage ajohn works at factory abc a company that makes steel pipes the company is serious about safety and has implemented many safety standards that employees should follow these include gloves when working with hot steel boots that cover the entire foot and that also come with grips to prevent slipping one day john is moving steel pipes down a ramp when he slips on a puddle of water that has accumulated from a leaky pipe despite wearing boots with grips he still fell he breaks his leg and damages nerves in the process he requires surgery and needs to be out of work for six months john s health insurance pays for his broken leg and a portion of the surgery but not all of the surgery factory abc has workers compensation coverage a as mandated by the state and the compensation coverage can pay for the remainder of john s medical bill as well as his salary while he is recovering for six months the coverage also includes rehabilitation costs 