What if My Employer Says They Don’t Have Workers’ Comp Insurance? 1 Way to Help Ensure Your Rights are not Violated
Workers’ comp insurance helps protect workers injured on the job.
Workers’ comp insurance covers employees for any time off due to a job-related injury or illness. Employees are eligible to receive assistance such as:
- Medical care benefits
- Temporary and permanent disability benefits
- Supplemental job displacement benefits
- Return-to-work supplement benefits
- Death benefits
Temporary disability benefits generally cover two-thirds of the gross (pre-tax) wages you lose as you recover from an on the job injury.
While workers’ comp insurance seems like a great benefit to employees in California, the road to a workers’ comp insurance claim can be murky, and compliance issues from your employer are always a possibility.
Imagine for a moment you are a construction worker who is electrocuted on the job, leading to a serious injury that requires time off. You may be going through not only physical pain, but mental trauma as well.
You file a claim after the injury for lost wages and high medical bills, but when notifying your employer, they tell you they don’t have workers’ comp insurance.
Is this a legal practice? Can my employer not provide me with workers’ comp insurance benefits?
In California, it is a criminal offense if employers do not provide workers’ comp insurance, even if there is only one employee. The law requires coverage for basic workers’ compensation benefits, such as the ones mentioned at the beginning of this article.
According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, not providing workers’ comp insurance is a misdemeanor punishable in a variety of ways that can greatly affect the company.
If an employee gets hurt in a work-related injury and the company is not insured with workers compensation, they are responsible for paying any medical bills related to the injury.
Additionally, there are other resources available to employees injured at a job where their employer illegally failed to pay workers’ comp.
According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund (UEBTF) can help injured workers recover funds after their uninsured employer failed to pay them workers’ compensation benefits following a qualifying injury.
These benefits are awarded via the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. There are many different documents and sources of information required for the UEBTF, most of which can be found at the California Department of Industrial Relations website.
If you find yourself in a situation where your employer claims they don’t not provide workers’ comp insurance, it’s important to contact a Los Angeles workers comp attorney at C&B Law Group immediately.
At C&B Law Group, our attorneys have years of experience helping victims like you get the settlement they deserve.
Workers’ comp insurance is supposed to help cover benefits for a wide-variety of on the job injuries, including:
- Slips and falls caused by tripping on loose wiring or falling from high spots or roofing.
- Falling/heavy equipment, such as a vehicle tipping over, or a loose material toppling over at a construction site
- Car accidents while transporting goods
- Electrocutions from cables or other unprotected wires
- Being trapped or crushed between two or more large objects
- Overexerting your body, which can lead to physical exhaustion and injuries
- Truck accidents on busy freeways
Some of the most common on the job injuries include:
- Broken or fractured bones
- Neck Injuries such as whiplash
- Cuts and lacerations
- Back Injuries such as a fractured vertebrae
- Contusions
- Sprains and strains
- Spinal cord injuries
- Loss of Limbs
- Head injuries like a concussion
- Wrongful death
Without workers’ comp insurance, employees are left in the dark when it comes to on the job injuries. They have no protection, and leave themselves open to further aggravation from inability to work, stress, mounting medical bills, or other nuances.
Remember, not all employees may are always eligible for workers’ comp insurance. For example, independent contractors cannot receive workers’ comp insurance directly through their employer.
Additionally, an injured employee has one year to file a workers’ compensation claim per the statute of limitations in California.
If your employer is denying a workers’ comp claim because they don’t have proper insurance, don’t accept their answer.
Your rights as an employee in the state of California have been violated. You deserve justice.
Reach out to the workers’ comp insurance attorneys at C&B Law Group today for your free initial consultation.
