What is workers compensation?
Workers’ Compensation is insurance, paid for by your employer, that provides cash benefits and medical care if you become disabled because of an injury or illness related to your job. All employees are covered by the Workers’ Compensation Law. If death results, benefits are payable to your surviving spouse and dependents as defined by law. The insurance carrier for New York State is the State Insurance Fund (SIF). What Are Your Responsibilities? IMPORTANT: In order for the State Insurance Fund to pay wage replacement benefits, they need to have an accident report from your employer and a medical report from a physician indicating your disability is due to your job-related injury. • OBTAIN first aid or other necessary medical treatment as soon as possible. Be sure to inform your medical provider your injuries are work-related so the medical information will be sent to the State Insurance Fund. For subsequent treatment, you may choose your own physician, podiatrist, chiropractor, psychol
Workers’ compensation is a state-mandated insurance program that provides compensation to employees who suffer job-related injuries and illnesses. While the federal government administers a workers’ comp program for federal and certain other types of employees, each state has its own laws and programs for workers’ compensation. For up-to-date information on workers’ comp in your state, contact your state’s workers’ compensation office. (You can find links to the appropriate office in your state on the State Workers’ Compensation Officials page of the U.S. Department of Labor’s website.) In general, an employee with a work-related illness or injury can get workers’ compensation benefits regardless of who was at fault — the employee, the employer, a coworker, a customer, or some other third party. In exchange for these guaranteed benefits, employees usually do not have the right to sue the employer in court for damages for those injuries.
Workers’ compensation is an insurance contract required by law intended to provide LESS than full compensation for injuries suffered which arise out of and during the course of employment. The insurance contract is required by law and is a compromise between no compensation for no-fault and adequate compensation for total fault. It provides some compensation even if the injuries are the worker’s own accidental fault. It does not cover intentionally self inflicted injuries.
Worker’s compensation laws allow workers who are injured in the course of their employment to be compensated for their injuries without having to resort to a traditional lawsuit, or court proceedings. An injured worker does not have to prove that his or her employer was negligent, or at fault for the injury, only that the injury happened in the course of the worker’s employment. Unless someone other than your employer was liable for your injuries, worker’s compensation is your sole remedy for your injuries.
