5 Things that Business Owners Need to Know About Employee Injuries

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5 Things that Business Owners Need to Know About Employee Injuries
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If you own a business or run one, you should know what you need to provide your employees. That goes beyond things like salary. It even goes beyond benefits like stock options, 401ks, and bonuses.

It also applies to safeguards that keep your employees safe. For instance, if a worker injures themselves on store property, or while they're doing something job-related, do you have the insurance in place that protects them?

Let's look at what you need to know regarding employee illness and injury that's business-related.

Almost All Businesses Need Worker's Compensation Insurance

When an employee comes to you seeking medical treatment for an injury, you're probably concerned. However, you can at least rest easy knowing that you have worker's comp insurance that protects them.

Worker's comp insurance:

  • Provides benefits to employees who need it

  • Kicks in to pay for either illness or injury that has a work-related cause

Let's say that one of your employees slips and falls in your brick-and-mortar location and injures their leg. You can cover that with your worker's comp policy.

After getting medical attention for the employee, you should start the paperwork and inform your insurance provider about what happened without delay.

Worker's Comp Also Includes Disability Benefits

When an employee injures themselves on your property, then they might also be out of work for a while recovering. This might be difficult for them if:

Luckily, worker's comp also includes disability benefits. As long as your employee can establish that the injury did indeed occur while they were at work, they can get disability benefits to pay for things like rent and food until they can return to work again.

Worker's Comp Includes Death Benefits

If a tragedy occurs and one of your workers dies during their duties, your workers' comp insurance will also grant death benefits to their survivors. It is there to pay for things like lost income that your employee would have made if they'd lived.

You should also realize that the family can sometimes still collect death benefits if the death takes place outside your property. It's all about whether the individual was working for you at the time of the accident.

Maybe they were driving a company truck and making a delivery when they got in a freeway pileup. In situations like that, their family should be able to cash in on worker's comp. It's only fair since they were working for you when it happened.

Worker's Comp Can Save You from Liability

You don't want anyone to suffer an injury when they're working for you, because presumably, you care about your employees. You also don't want it to happen, though, because they could bring legal action against you if they feel negligence played a part.

Worker's comp protects you against that. It reduces your liability.

It can't completely save you if you knew about unsafe conditions, and you still let your employees continue working. That's why you should always inspect your worksites to ensure that they're sound, and there's no apparent danger to anyone.

Not All States Have the Same Worker's Comp Rules

Earlier, we mentioned that almost all businesses have to carry worker's comp insurance for their employees. However, there are a few exceptions. What those are usually depends on what state you're in and your business's exact nature.

If your city and state require workers' comp, though, you'll need to get at least the minimum required amount. It's not going to be cheap, so you'll need to budget for it. Still, the money you spend on it is a tax write offWhen you go apply for a business loan, one of the things you'll need that money for is worker's comp insurance. If you know that you need it, don't try to get away with not having it. 

Even a single day when your workers aren't covered could mean a lawsuit and calamity for your business if that's the day there's an injury or illness. Workers can feel a lot more secure if they know that you have worker's comp protecting them. Nobody wants to suffer an injury or get sick on the job, but if it does happen, the insurance will protect them until they can return. 

Worker's comp also shows that you're looking after them, and you care about their welfare.

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