Florida employees who have sustained injuries on the job may be afraid to admit their fault in the incident. Maybe they forgot to cut a machine off or neglected to wear a helmet when running back onto the job site to grab a really quick something.
Accidents are bound to happen, of course, and sometimes no one is to blame, but what about when a worker gets hurt and believes the mishap was his or her fault?
According to Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, workers’ compensation is, by design, “insurance coverage purchased by the employer/business that provides benefits for job-related injuries.” Sounds like it covers everything, does it not? The definition goes on to say as much: “employees are compensated…regardless of fault.”
However, that can seem a little misleading. FindLaw fills in the blanks a little more clearly. It is true, according to FindLaw’s blog, that the American system for compensating injured workers is set up to be a guarantee. That is, the insurance will pay the medical bills as long as the employee agrees not to sue the workplace.
That general guideline applies broadly in many cases, but there are some instances when employees may not receive the benefits of workers’ compensation even when they get hurt at work. The following represent such cases:
- When a worker is drunk or high on the job
- When he or she is fighting or horsing around at work
- When a worker engages in other misconduct that endangers himself, herself or others
Does workers’ compensation cover every incident, regardless of who is at fault? It depends, but it is worth checking into when an injury happens on the job.
