Workers compensation can help employees injured on the job. It can make up for the time and money an employee loses through recovery. There are some circumstances that are not covered by workers comp. Some instances depend on circumstances and others depend on the employees’ relationship with an employer.
Type of Employee
Certain types of workers, like freelancers or independent contractors, don’t qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. A staffer or temp employee may not receive benefits from their placement. Instead, they could receive them from their staffing agency.
Time and Circumstance of Injury
Generally speaking, an employee qualifies for workers’ compensation if they were injured on the job, during working hours. If an employee gets in a car accident commuting to work, they would not qualify for worker’s comp. The commuting took place outside of work hours.
If the employee is intoxicated, this may disqualify them from receiving worker’s comp. Recreational activities could also disqualify an employee. For example, if an employee tears their ACL at the workplace club soccer game, this wouldn’t count.
While many circumstances require workers’ compensation, there are several that are not covered by workers comp. That is why it is important to have all involved document the scene, and conduct a thorough investigation into what happened.