What is the first thing that must be done when a worker is injured?
If one of your employees suffers an injury at work, make sure their injury is treated as soon as possible. If it’s an emergency, call 911 right away. After the injury, your employee can file a claim with your workers’ compensation insurance, also known as workers’ comp, to help get important benefits, like medical treatment coverage.
There are different state laws for this coverage depending on where you live. Generally, if your business has employees, you’ll need workers’ comp. However, even if your business isn’t required to carry this coverage, it can still be a good idea to get it. Many employees with a work-related injury sue their employer for their medical expenses. Without coverage, you’ll be financially responsible. And if you can’t cover the costs out of pocket, it can be devastating for your small business.
It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t usually need coverage for independent contractors that you hire for your company, and that workers’ compensation doesn’t help cover personal injury claims that aren’t caused by a person’s work.
If your employee is injured on the job, you’ll want to follow these steps:
- If there’s an employee injured off the job, workers’ compensation insurance won’t provide them with benefits. To get workers’ comp benefits, an employee must experience an injury at work. If your employee is injured outside of work, their health insurance can help cover the costs of their treatment.
- Most states require businesses to carry workers’ compensation insurance if they have employees. But there may be exceptions for employees in certain industries, like:
If these workers are injured, and you’re not required to carry coverage for them, they’ll likely have to handle their medical bills on their own. If they’re an independent contractor, they may have workers’ compensation coverage from their main company.
It’s not uncommon for employees to get hurt on the job no matter what industry you’re in. Whether you’re a contractor, plumber, or even a bed and breakfast, everyone is susceptible to injury and illness from a work-related cause.
If your employee has a work-related injury or illness, you should seek medical care for them. Your employee should file a report with the company to start the workers’ compensation process. After getting their report, you can start documenting and gathering information about their injury or illness.
Each state has a time limit for filing workers’ compensation claims related to workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities. You may want to make sure your employees know about any statute of limitations. No matter where you live, the sooner they file an injury report, the better. If they wait too long, your employees could lose their workers’ compensation benefits.
Employees should report any workplace injuries that are caused by normal work activities or job duties. Some of the most common causes of workplace injuries include:
How long do most workers’ comp settlements take?
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Terry Crouppen who has more than 40 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney. Our last modified date shows when this page was last reviewed.
You can receive a workers’ comp settlement offer at any time throughout a case. However, most cases are settled within 6 months and are almost always paid out after the injured worker has reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) – the point where a doctor has determined the injured worker has recovered. Each workers’ compensation case is unique and can take less or more time to settle depending on the injuries and number of parties involved in the claim.
The process of settling a workers’ compensation claim is a multi-step process. In an ideal world, this is how a claim should go.
- Step 1: Injury and notice – When an employee gets hurt at work, the employee must notify the supervisor of the injury, including the details of where and how it happened. This is called “notice.” In the state of Missouri, the statute of limitations for workers’ compensation is 2 years, meaning that a claim must be filed within two years of the work injury or death. Additionally, employees must report their injuries to their employer within 30 days of the injury or when the work injuries were discovered.
- Step 2: Report of injury – After receiving notice of the workplace injury, the employer is required by law to submit a Report of Injury to the Division of Workers’’ Compensation.
- Step 3: Medical evaluation and treatment – After receiving notice, the employer should also refer the injured worker for a medical evaluation and treatment.
- Step 4: Workers’ compensation claim is filed – The injured worker (or, more typically, their attorney) files the Claim for Compensation with the appropriate state agency. For Missouri workers’ compensation cases, this means the Division of Workers’ Compensation. In Illinois, it’s the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.
- Step 5: Ongoing medical treatment – Work comp injuries run the gamut from muscle strains and torn ligaments to shattered bones, brain trauma and internal injuries. Each injury has its own regimen, which means treatment can last from weeks to years, depending on type and severity. In most cases, injured workers’ have little say in choosing the medical provider. Workers’ compensation laws give employers and workers’ compensation companies a great deal of control over which providers and what type of treatment the injured worker will receive. If an injury prevents an employee from being…