Workers' Compensation Today
State Laws - Federal Compensation Laws - Federal Liability Laws 1. State Laws
In a few states, the workers compensation law applies only to certain hazardous occupations, some states exclude casual workers and others exclude employers with less than a specified number of employees. The statutory benefits also differ by state as well as by type of injury.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's annual 'Analysis of Workers' Compensation Laws' provides an overview and synopsis of these benefits. Today's workers compensation laws exist to provide statutory benefits for medical expenses, time off work and death arising from injuries and have a number of basic objectives:
(i) Protection for the Injured Worker
To provide sure, prompt and reasonable income and medical benefits to work-accident victims, regardless of fault.
(ii) Protection for the Injured Worker's Dependants
To provide sure, prompt and reasonable income to the dependants of work-accident victims, regardless of fault.
(iii) Providing Peace of Mind
By providing a sole remedy workers are assured that they will receive a quick settlement if they are injured and that they and their dependants will not have to be without income owing to disputes of liability.
(iv) Speeding Up the Process
The sole remedy and pre-determined benefits reduce court delays as well as legal costs.
(v) Providing Funds
WCA laws relieve public and private charities of the need to take care of injured parties in the absence of any compensation.
(vi) Encouraging Employer Responsibility
WCA laws seek to encourage employers to have an interest in the safety and rehabilitation of employees through appropriate experience-rating mechanisms.
(vii) Making the Workplace Safer
WCA laws promote studies of the causes of accidents with a view to reducing avoidable accidents and human suffering. In most states an injured employee has the right to bring a common-law suit against an employer but in doing so they surrender their rights to the compensation benefits. Employees that accept the compensation benefits are required to sign a written agreement releasing the employer, or the insurer, from any further liability.
In a few states the employee is required to give notice that they do not accept the statutory benefits before they have a claim rather than after the event. In cases where employers do not come under the workers compensation law of a particular state may voluntarily bring its employees under the law, usually by purchasing workers compensation to cover its employees.
Insurance carriers who write Workers Compensation are required to belong and subscribe to the Rating Bureau in that State, the largest one being the National Council for Compensation Insurance (NCCI). The existence of these rating authorities creates an extremely regulated market place as:
(i) Every WCA policy must conform to the rules, rates, rating plans and policy forms filed or authorised in the applicable state.
(ii)The Bureaux's responsibilities include classifications coding, regulations, rating schedules and policy forms.
2. Federal Compensation Laws
Federal Compensation laws exist to provide remedies to employees not covered under state laws. Examples of these are as follows:
(i) The US Longshore and Harbour Workers' Compensation (USL & H) which covers workers working on the navigable waters of the U.S.
(ii) The Defense Base Act which covers civilian workers at military bases as well as employees working overseas on public projects.
(iii) The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Acts (OCSLA) which covers offshore workers injured or killed on permanent natural resource exploration or development structures such as oil rigs.
(iv) The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act which provides monthly income benefits for coal miners who develop pneumoconiosis, commonly know as black lung disease.
3. Federal Liability Laws
Federal Liability Laws exist to provide remedies to employees that are not subject to state or federal workers compensation benefits. Examples of these are as follows:
(i) The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) which entitles a railroad worker to bring an action against an employer when they are injured in the course of their employment.
(ii) The Jones Act which extends FELA to seaman who are injured as a result of some negligence by their employer.
(iii) The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSAWPA) designed to protect seasonal and migrant workers who are injured due to the failure of an employer to create a safe work environment.
