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Employment Law

Workers’ Compensation Law

What is the purpose of workers’ compensation?

Workers’ compensation is designed to provide an expedited manner for employees injured on the job to recover money and receive medical benefits for injuries that they suffer on the job. Before the advent of workers compensation laws in the early part of the twentieth century, employees would have to sue their employers in order to receive compensation for injuries on the job. This led to a situation in which workers often could not work because of their injury and received no medical coverage from their employers for the injuries. Workers compensation laws provide an avenue in which employees receive quicker benefits in exchange for not suing their employers in court.

Of course, sometimes employees could not recover in tort against their employers because the work-related injuries were the fault of the employee more so than the employer. Usually negligence is not an issue in workers compensation. As long as the injury is sufficiently work-related, then the employee can recover workers compensation benefits.