Do Seasonal Employees Qualify for Workers’ Compensation Benefits? 5 Hazardous Injuries
Seasonal employees often see a growth during the summer and holiday seasons.
According to PEW Research Center, teen seasonal employees for the summer were up around 36 percent in 2021.
Seasonal employees provide managers and business owners to increase hourly output during bustling seasons, potentially taking some of the burden from their regular employees.
For example, a clothing store at a mall will hire more employees from late October through mid January due to the impact of more holiday shoppers.
If you are one of the many Americans hired as seasonal employees, you might be curious as to what happens if you are injured on the job.
In California, seasonal employees still qualify for workers’ compensation benefits.
Workers’ comp can help seasonal employees injured on the job recover:
- Medical care costs
- Temporary or permanent disability benefits
- Vouchers to help pay for retraining or skill enhancement if you don’t recover completely
- Death benefits
To qualify, an employee must be injured on the job while performing a job related task.
Think of a situation where a seasonal employee falls from a ladder while putting clothes on a high shelf. They injure their back in the process of falling.
This employee is eligible for workers’ compensation, as their injury occurred on the job while performing a task related to work.
Now, if the employee climbed a ladder to show off or act in a goofy manner and then fell, they would not qualify for workers’ compensation. This was not a required task, even though it did occur on the job.
This applies for both regular and seasonal employees.
Other situations where seasonal employees may get injured at work can include:
- Slipping on wet surfaces
- Tripping over an unseen object
- Malfunctioning equipment
- Repetitive motion injury
- Exposure to toxic chemicals
There are a number of potential injuries for seasonal employees, including:
- Concussions
- Whiplash
- Chronic neck or back pain
- Permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Cuts and lacerations
- Broken bones
- Skull fractures
- Lower body injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Upper body injuries
- Internal injuries
- Wrongful death
Seasonal employees have the same rights as regular employees when it comes to workers’ compensation.
However, situations may arise where seasonal employees are denied benefits.
While the previous situation mentioned about falling while showing off qualifies for a denial, other situations can still help the injured worker.
Some company’s may deny a workers’ compensation case on the basis of your seasonal employment. This is not a legal practice.
Employer’s are still required to pay workers’ comp to seasonal employees for work injuries.
Another possibility is that a claims adjuster could deny a claim, saying that you were hired as an independent contractor. While it’s true that independent contractors do not qualify for workers’ comp, most major retailers do not hire employees to work independently.
If you suffered an injury while working as a seasonal employee and find yourself in the midst of a workers’ compensation battle, it might be time to seek help from an attorney who specializes in this area of law.
At C&B Law Group, our team of Los Angeles workers’ comp attorneys are ready and willing to fight for you against any claim denial.
Seasonal employees don’t deserve anything less just because they are not working past a certain date. They are still employees, even if they are part-time.
Seasonal employees can see a pile-up of medical expenses. They often report lost wages, and lose valuable time with friends and family.
Don’t get pushed around by an insurance or workers’ compensation adjuster. Let the LA workers’ compensation attorneys at C&B Law Group deal with them so you can focus on the most important factor: restoring your health.
Injured at work as a seasonal employee? Contact LA law firm C&B Law Group today to learn more about how you can receive a free consultation.
