Workers Compensation
| Employee Misconduct |
|
| Generally, workers' compensation is a no-fault system that provides an employee with benefits for work-related injuries and illnesses without reference to an employee's negligent or wilful misconduct. This is not so, however, when such misconduct occurs outside the course of his employment. Additionally, various jurisdictions have outlined certain instances where an employee's misconduct constitutes a defense to the award of workers' compensation benefits.
More... |
|
|
| Course of Employment and the Personal Comfort Doctrine |
|
| An employee injured in the course of employment is entitled to workers' compensation benefits. However, compensability may remain unaffected even if the injury occurred when the employee deviated from his specific job duties to engage in an activity that was purely personal in nature and solely for his own comfort. The personal comfort doctrine allows employees to slightly deviate from their job duties, within the usual time and space parameters of their employment, without losing workers' compensation protection. It is generally understood that employees should be able to tend to their physical needs, such as using the restroom, getting a drink of water, or even taking a break to smoke, during the course of their employment. More... |
|
|
| Self-employment |
|
| The central question of whether a given state can apply its workers' compensation statute focuses on various factors including the place that the employment contract was entered into, the place of the employee's injury, and the employee's usual place of employment. For example, an employee who entered into an employment contract with a construction company in California, and who was subsequently injured on a construction site in Nevada, may be able to seek workers' compensation benefits in both California and Nevada. However, double recoveries are generally not permitted. More... |
|
|
| Necessity of Payment for "Employee" Designation |
|
| To qualify for workers' compensation benefits, an individual must be an "employee." An important consideration in the determination of "employee" status is whether or not the individual receives payment for his labor. Workers' compensation is meant to provide the injured employee with a portion of his lost wages. If there is no payment for the worker's labor, he is not an employee for hire and has no "lost wages" that workers' compensation benefits can help replace. More... |
|
|
| Distribution of Proceeds From Third Party Action |
|
| Once a third party action has concluded and a recovery achieved for an employee's injury, the matter of distribution arises. As a first priority, the general rule is that the party who paid the employee compensation (most likely the employer or its carrier) will be reimbursed in an amount equivalent to its compensation outlay. The employee will then be entitled to any excess funds that remain. Some states vary this by mandating that only a portion of the excess be turned over to the employee. More... |
|
|