Recently in Workers' Compensation Category

On-the-job injuries can leave you unable to work for weeks on end. Workers' compensation is intended to help you get the care you need and make ends meet while you're on the mend. However, for the uninitiated, navigating the workers' compensation system can be a bit overwhelming.

While it may be the last thing you feel like doing after suffering a serious injury, it's important to take steps to protect your interests as soon as a workplace injury occurs.

Here are some steps to consider taking after you're injured on the job, in order to claim workers' compensation benefits:

A former employee of the Dauphin County Sheriff’s department lost her wrongful dismissal lawsuit against her former employer, a federal court ruled this week.

Tina Francis, a former administrative assistant to Sheriff Jack Lotwick, brought the lawsuit after she claimed she was fired for seeking workers’ compensation. Francis underwent surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome.

Philadelphia workers are entitled to benefits when injured on the job, despite whether an employer's negligence caused their injuries. These benefits are generally referred to as workers' compensation insurance, or "workers comp," which focuses on providing aid for injured employees without solely concentrating on who to blame for the injury.

FindLaw describes workers comp as a state-mandated program that entails payments required by law to workers who have been injured or disabled in a work-related incident.  Not only does the federal government offer workers comp to federal employees, but states like PA have their own workers' compensation program.

States like Pennsylvania are working to resolve the problem regarding employers in the construction industry misclassifying workers as independent contractors. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, Governor Ed Rendell signed into law House Bill 400, which makes intentionally misclassifying construction workers a third-degree felony.

Under House Bill 400, the classification of Philly workers as contractors can also fall under a summary offense due to negligence, and breaking the law would result in paying a fine. When employers wrongly classify their employees, they shortchange the workers and the state by avoiding paying worker's compensation costs, unemployment taxes, and payroll. A Philadelphia employment lawyer can further explain an employee's rights to proper compensation and wages.