How Worker's Compensation Affects the Employee and the Employer - Research Paper Example

Running head: Worker's Compensation How Worker's Compensation Affects the Employee and the Employer Worker’s compensation is state mandated-employer paid benefit for employees for personal injuries or illnesses that occur in the course of their employment. The workers’ compensation payments are only eligible for on-the-job injuries alone. There exist broad differences in workers’ compensation laws concerning benefits provisions both in the US and internationally. However, the laws follow a definite pattern especially on issues to do with employment covered, benefits, and insurance. Workers’ compensation is broadly categorized into four types; death, benefits, medical care, rehabilitative benefits and income replacement benefits. Medical benefits pay for necessary medical care for the treatment of work related injury or illness. The medical compensation is paid directly to the medical care provider. Treatment for work-related injury starts immediately. When an injured worker is not covered by health care network, he or she has the right to an initial choice of doctor. Work related injury or illness must be recommended by the treating doctor except in cases of emergency. Although an employee does not pay for the work-related injury treatment, a doctor may request payment from a worker when the work related injury or illness has been reviewed through dispute resolution hearing before a court and determined as an injury not work-related. After treatment of a work-related injury, an employee should return to work as quickly as possible (CCH Incorporated 420). Income benefits are a replacement to a portion of wages lost by a worker on compensation because of a work related injury. Income benefits are further classified into; temporary income benefits, impairment benefits, supplemental income benefits and lifetime income benefits. It is mandatory that income benefits do not exceed the maximum weekly amount that is set by the state law (CCH Incorporated 422). Death benefits pay a portion to the lost family income for an employee who dies because of a work-related injury or sickness. Burial benefits help settle funeral expenses to those who paid for the funeral expenses (CCH Incorporated 422). Workers compensation benefits the employees and the employer equally although it is the employers who meet worker’s compensation cost through premiums paid to insurance companies. The employers also have their share in the benefits in that; Workers compensation lowers the employer’s responsibility for providing disability benefits to employees for injuries or sickness that are not job related, the law provides a detailed remedy for on-the-job injuries, restricts the employer’s liability in terms of the amount employees may recover for a given occurrence (CCH Incorporated 429). The employers also avoid the possibility of lengthy lawsuits emanating from job related injuries Employers are disadvantaged is some way while compensating workers as the instances of handling paperwork increases, they also pay substantial premiums for workers compensation premiums. The affected worker benefits from prompt payment of claims in the case of an injury, the payments are made on the basis of his or her current salary, while in the event of death, the payments are made to the employee’s dependents. On the other hand, an injured worker suffers from the pain and discomfort that come with an injury, wasted as he/she waits for care and travels to various medical providers, delays in wages due to paper work and bureaucracies, and the inability to perform various daily cores. The workers’ compensation law denies an injured worker from requesting further damages through a separate tort action. The workers compensation payments may be offset by social security disability benefits within some states while in some instances, workers retirement benefit may be reduced by the amount of compensation received following the injury. The liability of the employer is limited to the benefits provided in the workers compensation law. Workers’ compensation law indicates that the benefits are the exclusive remedy for on-the-job injuries. If an employee assents coverage, he/she is limited to recovering only the amount of benefits stipulated in the workers compensation law. The worker is not allowed to seek any further damage via a separate tort suit against his employer (Burton 35). In all states in the US, it is illegal for an employer to fire an employee for filing for or using workers’ compensation benefits. Under the law, an employer who fires an employee for seeking workers compensation undermines the policy of the act. Workers compensation statutes are in favor of workers’ receipt of compensation for a work related injury. Perritt (69) argues that allowing employers to terminate employees who file workers’ compensation claims is likely to disappoint the filing of claims and the receipt of compensation. The purpose of this statute would ultimately be jeopardized. However, an employee may be fired out on worker’s compensation if he violates the neutral and consistency enforced employee absence program. It is illegal for an employer to threaten an employee so as to discourage him from filing a worker’s compensation claim or to offer personal cash to an employee with the aim of covering the medical expenses to deter an employee from filing formal claims benefits. Employers are limited by law from terminating employment as a way of avoiding a worker’s compensation claim. Several reasons exist under which an employee may be fired while receiving workers’ compensation benefits. The employer is allowed by law to hire someone else in the place of an employee under workers’ compensation if he fails to furnish the employer with the medical condition and the date of return. A worker could also be fired if prior to the injury, he/she had shown a long history of disciplinary reasons or if he is unable to do the job. An employee may sue the employer in a court of law for unlawful termination and attempt to regain any lost wages and any other costs that resulted from the termination. This law varies from state to state. Employees returning from workers’ compensation leave may be physically disabled such that they cannot perform their usual duties in their old jobs. According to Equal Employment Opportunity commission (EEOC) guidelines, an employer is required by law to look for an alternative job (including a light duty) for employees with a permanent disability. However, the employer may not create a new position or even remove another worker from a position so as to fit the affected employee (Moy 159). If an employee in a reassigned position recovers fully and is able to perform essential functions of his or her official position, the employer should restore the worker’s original work. EEOC prohibits employers from reassigning a worker with an injury to another job without first trying to ease conditions for the worker in his or her official position According to Thomason, Schmidle and Burton (270), Compensation programs are different in the different states (Thomason, Schmidle and Burton 270). For example, there is a variation in the level of cash benefits among various workers within a given state. The differences also occur in maximum weekly benefits, and at times, the maximum duration of benefits. Employees with work-related injury or illness in California have to go through lengthy cases. Issues such as determination of whether or not there is a ‘case’ and the procedure for pursuing compensation benefits take a long time to conclude. Compensation issues are determined by the Workers’ compensation Appeal Board where the procedures are long and complicated. In Texas, the system for measuring workers compensation and the handling of cases are shorter and the procedures are not as lengthy. The laws in California require that programs pay benefits for up to 52 weeks while in Texas, the period is only 26 weeks. Comparatively, workers’ compensation costs are very high in Texas than in California while the average time off work is longer in California than in Texas (Teleki 53). Workers’ compensation laws are enacted to protect employees from on-the-job injuries. Both the employer and the employee benefit from the workers’ compensation a like. In particular, this law help an employer escape the possibility of long lawsuits that might arise from job related injuries. The increased paperwork that comes with workers’ compensation is one of the disadvantages to the employers. Although workers may not suffer financial damages, other inconveniences do arise such as the inability to participate in hobbies. The laws protect employees from being dismissed from employment for filing for workers compensation benefits. Interstate variation in workers’ compensation methods occurs as a result of differences in administrative rules. Works Cited Incorporated, CCH. US Master Employee Benefits Guide. New York: CCH Incorporated, 2004. Print. John, Burton. New Perspectives in Workers' Compensation. Ithaca: Ilr Press, New York State School Of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, 1988. Print. MOY, Roy. Helping Employers Comply With The ADA: An Assessment Of How The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Is Enforcing. Pennsylvania: DIANE Publishers, 2000. Print. Perritt, Henry. Employee Dismissal Law and Practice. New York: Aspen publishers online, 2006. Print. Teleki, Stephanie. Research Colloquium on Workers' Compensation Medical Benefit Delivery and Return to Work. Washington DC: Rand Institute For Civil Justice, 2006. Print. Thomason, Terry., Timothy, Schmidle, and John Burton. Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Costs, And Safety Under Alternative Insurance Arrangements. Kalamazoo: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2001. Print. Read More