Charles Spinelli on the Workers Compensation Program
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According to Charles Spinelli, workers' compensation, otherwise called "workers' comp," is a program that offers and provides benefits to workers who are ill or injured on the job. It is a disability insurance program that provides healthcare benefits, cash benefits, or both to workers who suffer illness or injury as a direct result of doing their jobs.
In the United States, individual states typically handle workers' compensation. The required benefits vary from state to state. Texas is currently the only state not requiring employers to provide workers' compensation insurance.
Charles Spinelli mentions that not all employees are covered in several states. Some states, for instance, exclude small businesses. Other states have different requirements for various industries.
Under workers' compensation, the salary replacement paid to an employee is normally less than the worker's full salary. The most generous states pay about two-thirds of the employee's gross salary.
Workers' compensation benefits are often not taxable at the state or federal level. Taxes may be because of individuals with income from the Social Security Disability program.
Most compensation programs offer coverage of medical expenses only for workers who have work-related injuries. For example, a construction worker may claim compensation for an injury from a bad fall from a crane or scaffolding but not for an injury incurred while driving on the way home when they are no longer on the clock.
In certain situations, Charles Spinelli says that workers can receive the equivalent of paid sick days while they are on medical leave. Workers' compensation pays the worker's dependents if a worker dies because of a work-related accident.
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By agreeing to get workers' compensation, recipients waive their right to sue their employer or their company for negligence. As you can see, this particular compensation bargain aims to protect both workers and employers. Workers give up legal recourse in exchange for compensation, while employers guarantee compensation as they avoid the potentially higher cost of a negligence lawsuit.
In the U.S., the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs covers federal employees, energy employees, longshoremen and harbor workers, and coal miners. The lack of clear standards for workers' compensation has resulted in varied policies for similar types of injuries from state to state.
On a final note, identical injuries can receive different compensation depending on where a worker lives. A research paper by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) calls workers' compensation "broken." It estimates that about 50 percent of workplace illness and injury costs are borne by the workers who suffer them. Immigrant and low-income workers often don't even apply for benefits, explains Charles Spinelli.
Charles Spinelli shares important information on human resources in his blogs. Read them on this page.
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