Charles Spinelli: A Discussion on Workers Compensation

 

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Charles Spinelli: What Workers' Comp Means for Business

Workers' compensation, otherwise known as workers' comp (or worker comp), is a federal program. According to Charles Spinelli, this program gives benefits to employees who become ill or get injured on the job. Worker's comp is a disability insurance program that provides healthcare benefits, cash benefits, or both to workers who get hurt as a direct result of doing their jobs.

 

In the U.S., states typically handle workers' compensation. The required benefits vary from state to state.

 

Take, for instance, Texas, which is currently the only state that does not require employers to have workers' compensation insurance. In other states, not all employees are covered by worker's comp. Some states exclude small businesses from the mandate entirely.

 

The Department of Labor has the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs. The office covers federal and energy employees, longshoremen and harbor workers, and coal miners.

 

Even with all this, the lack of clear standards for workers' comp has, in the past, resulted in varied policies for similar kinds of injuries from state to state. 

For example, identical injuries could receive different compensation packages depending on where a person resides. It is estimated that half of workplace illness and injury costs are shouldered by the workers who suffer them. Often, immigrant and low-income workers don't even apply for benefits.

Also, remember that when you agree to get workers' comp, you also waive your right to sue your employer for negligence. This compensation bargain also aims to protect both workers and employers. 

 

While workers give up any legal recourse in exchange for compensation, employers guarantee compensation to avoid the potentially higher cost of a negligence lawsuit.

Below, Charles Spinelli looks at some of the benefits of worker's comp.

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Workers' comp may reimburse medical expenses.  

Most compensation programs offer coverage of medical expenses only for workers who are injured doing their work. For example, a construction worker may claim compensation for an injury or injuries suffered in a fall on the construction site but not for an injury incurred while driving home in their car. 

Workers' comp may be given to the worker's survivors. 

Workers' comp is also what pays the worker's dependents in the event that a worker dies because of a work-related accident, explains Charles Spinelli. 

Workers' comp may be a substitute for lost salary.

Under workers' compensation, the salary replacement paid to an employee may typically be less than the worker's full salary. That said, some states pay up to about two-thirds of the employee's gross salary. Charles Spinelli says that in different situations, workers may also receive the equivalent of paid sick days during their medical leave.

The benefits from workers' comp are usually non-taxable at the state or federal level. Taxes may be due to individuals with income from the Social Security Disability programs.

Charles Spinelli shares important information on human resources in his blogs. Read them on this page.