Accidents often happen in the work place. To help cover cost associated with accidents in the workplace most states require the employer to have workers compensation insurance.
In the State of Tennessee, this insurance is provided to all employees at no cost to them and is administered by The Tennessee Department Of Labor And Workforce Development. It will cover the expenses of the employee’s on the job injury no matter whose fault it might be. What differentiates Tennessee from other States is that in most cases, Tennessee workers compensation laws eliminates the right of the employee from filing a personal injury case against the employer.
How Does This Work For The Employee?
In cases of common injuries (injuries that are not life threatening) the employee simply reports the injury to a supervisor, then if not needing hospitalization, they will send you to one of the companies approved Doctors. By following this type of procedure, it protects the employer from the employee going to their own doctor and scheming to have other symptoms or problems diagnoses and treated that weren’t caused for the on-the-job accident.
Prevention Of Fraud
Over the years, workers compensation fraud has risen so the laws pertaining to workers compensation give the employer rules and guidelines they can follow and enforce so as to be able to help qualified injured employees and not be in a position to have to pay out for unwarranted claims.
Employers have to right to –
1. Make sure you were injured on the job, not at home or traveling to and from the workplace.
2. Make sure that you did not hurt yourself on purpose or try and hurt others
3. Make sure you were not physically impaired – they can drug test you to be sure you weren’t under the influenced of drugs or alcohol.
4. Make sure you followed proper safety protocols.
Companies are in the business of making money and profits and they are quite aware that it takes good honest, hard working employees to make that happen. Companies have a lot more at stake when it comes to work place accidents and they do whatever they can to prevent them but also take care of the employees who honestly get hurt while performing their duties.
In the state of Tennessee, the workers compensation insurance will pay all medical expenses incurred for treating of the injured employee. They do have a seven-day waiting period to cover your lost wages but if you are out of work longer than 14 days, they will cover all your lost wages from the very beginning and pay 66 2/3 of your average weekly wage. They also cover permanent disability as well as death benefits as in most States as well.
All in all it pays to be as safe as possible for the employer as well as the employee.