What is the Goal of Workers Compensation?

Workers’ compensation refers to coverage and benefits that are paid to employees who suffer workplace injuries or illnesses. These benefits are covered under state-mandated compensation programs, such as the PA Workers’ Compensation Act, one of the most comprehensive and strongest systems of compensation of its kind.

Unlike other states’ programs, it comes into effect even when a business has only one employee. Plus, it includes family members as employees, too.

Some relevant workplace injury statistics:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2.7 million cases of workplace injuries and illnesses took place in 2020.

• Of these, 4,764 were fatal.
• On average,an employer spends around $120,000 on each workplace injury.
• Collectively, in 2020, this cost amounted to $163.9 billion.
• This included wage losses, productivity losses, impact on society, medical costs, and administrative costs, too.

As you can see, workplace injuries not only cause harm to individuals and their families but also result in huge losses to business and economy as well. With compassionate programs of workers’ compensation in place, many of these costs can be mitigated and instances of injury reduced.

Here are some objectives that workers’ compensation programs aim to achieve.

To Ensure Access To Medical Care

We all know how quickly medical costs can rack up. Depending on how long it takes for an injury to heal or an illness to mend, these costs can quickly add up. Workers’ compensation aims to lighten this load on employees.

Workers who get injured at work or develop an illness at work are entitled to receive medical benefits under workers’ compensation programs. Types of medical benefits these programs cover include:

• Doctors’ visits
• Treatments and surgeries
• Prescriptions and medication
• Hospital expenses
• Medical devices and supplies,
• Travel reimbursements for visits to and from the doctor

In some cases, you can receive these benefits even in instances of preexisting conditions. You’ll need to prove though that a preexisting condition has worsened after your illness or injury. An expert workers’ compensation attorney can come in handy.

To Provide Protection Against Lost Income

Another critical objective of workers compensation is to help injured workers maintain their standard of living and to make ends meet. Workplace injuries or illnesses that result in the employee missing work also mean lost wages.

Replacement of lost wages is an important benefit of workers’ compensation. It covers temporary as well as permanent disability. Typically, lost wage benefits amount to 2/3rd of the salary. Workers who earn less may be eligible to receive more.

Loss of income benefits become payable when there is:

• Temporary total disability
• Temporary partial disability
• Permanent total disability

You can continue to receive these benefits for as long as you are injured and unable to return to any form of work.

For fatal injuries/illnesses, employers are liable to pay not only the death benefits but funeral expenses, too. This not only goes toward holding people accountable but also eases the financial load on the affected family and loved ones.

To Rehabilitate The Injured Workforce

While some injuries may heal on their own, others require help from experts. For example, an injury that results in damage to the leg. While surgery and other treatments can physically heal the leg, it may take rehabilitation efforts such as counseling and physical therapy to regain the full function of the leg.

When workers’ compensation pays for these rehabilitation efforts, it fulfills an important task of ensuring that trained and experienced employees are taken care of. Even if you are a new employee, rehabilitation as a result of a workplace accident is your employer’s responsibility.

By fulfilling that responsibility, employers not only keep their workforce safe but also promote a culture of accountability.

To Encourage Workplaces To Develop Safer Work Environments

The most important responsibility for an employer is to create safe workplace environments. By holding employers accountable in cases of workplace injuries and illnesses, these compensation programs ensure that employers are actively involved in workplace safety practices.

This happens two ways:

• Companies with lower cases of worker injuries have to pay reduced worker insurance premiums.
• Employers with adequate workers’ compensation are protected from lawsuits and other forms of litigation by injured workers.

Another financial security that workers’ compensation provides to employers is to not have them pay these exorbitant costs out of their pocket - workers’ compensation insurance policies take care of that.

To Reduce Litigation

According to estimates, there were around 25,000 workplace class action lawsuits filed in 2019. These do not include the number of such cases that are already in various stages of legal proceedings. Needless to say, that’s a huge toll on the legal system not only in terms of manpower but also financial cost.

An important goal of workers’ compensation is to reduce litigation costs. Every time workers’ compensation is paid, the injured employee has to forgo their right to sue the employer. That is why whenever a workplace injury occurs, it is usually in the interest of the employer to accept the claim and instruct the carrier to start paying benefits. Otherwise, the employer is not only exposed to injury claim appeals but personal injury lawsuits, too.

It must be noted that this protection does not cover gross negligence. If you or a loved one has been injured or ill at work due to circumstances that were easily preventable or in the notice of the employer for long, you may have a case at hand.

To explore your legal options, contact your workers’ compensation attorney. Filing a lawsuit in such cases may not only bring higher compensation benefits but also penalize irresponsible company cultures.

Conclusion

The essence of workers’ compensation programs lies in maintaining an ecology of accountability, compassion, and safety. They aren’t against anyone and in the favor of all. Not only do these programs help pay for costs of various kinds but also encourage and reward practices that establish safe work practices.

If you are an employer or hoping to become one, consider buying workers’ compensation insurance not as an expense but as an investment that you can fall back on when an accident takes place.

If you are an employee going through an injury, do not forget to hire a specialized work comp attorney to protect all your bases.