What are the objectives of the worker’s compensation system?
Historically, six basic objectives underlie the workers’ compensation laws: • Provide sure, prompt, and reasonable income and medical benefits to work-related accident victims, or income benefits to their dependents, regardless of fault; • Provide a single remedy and reduce court delays, costs, and judicial workloads arising out of personal injury litigation; • Relieve public and private charities of financial demands incident to uncompensated occupational accidents; • Minimize payment of fees to lawyers and witnesses as well as time-consuming trials and court appeals; • Encourage maximum employer interest in safety and rehabilitation through an appropriate experience-rating mechanism; and, • Promote frank study of the causes of accidents (rather than the concealment of fault) in an effort to reduce preventable accidents and human suffering.
