Protecting Yourself and Your Employees

Learning how to comply with workers’ compensation laws may sound like a drag, but like many business tasks, it’s both critical and beneficial to you and your workers. 

“It’s about protecting the employee and the employer,” says Stephanie Bendeck, a personal injury defense attorney with Melick & Porter in Boston. “It may take some time to get properly set up in the beginning, but that hard work and the time invested pays dividends on the back end.”

In Massachusetts, workers’ comp is a “no-fault” program that requires employers to carry insurance to cover job-related injuries or disabling conditions, no matter how many hours employees work, while prohibiting those employees from suing for pain and suffering. 

“If someone gets injured on the job, he could have tripped over his own feet and caused his own injury and can still pursue lost wages and medical treatment,” says Bruce Lipsey, a disability and workers’ compensation attorney at Lipsey & Clifford in Hanover. “If the employer is responsible, like leaving the banana peel on the floor and causing the employee to slip, the employer would be responsible for providing workers’ compensation, wages and medical treatment, but would be insulated, in return, from any lawsuit brought by the employee.”

Your preparation should start with finding a good insurance broker who can guide you to the right policy and a workers’ comp attorney who can clarify confusing details. “Insurance terms are full of a lot of gobbledygook, and sometimes people have questions about unique situations that perhaps an insurance agent or broker may not be able to answer,” says Bendeck. “It can get a little sticky.”

And, she adds, “Reevaluate your coverage on a yearly basis. If you get more employees or open up new offices, make sure that your coverage is always up to date.” Failing to buy workers’ comp insurance means an employee injured on-site can sue you directly. 

Once your policy is in place, Bendeck says to display the proof of coverage certificate in the break room or other common area and advise your employees of their rights. (The U.S. Department of Labor offers free posters.) Keep a list of doctors who take workers’ comp patients—not every doctor does—as well as blank claim forms.

Safety, of course, should always be top of mind in any workplace. Train your employees about your company’s safety guidelines and address the topic regularly at scheduled meetings. 

If a worker gets hurt on the job, get medical help for them right away, alert your carrier and ask the employee to fill out a claim form within 24 hours, if possible. The insurance company will provide an attorney, if necessary. 

Some employers, Lipsey says, muddle an already-stressful situation by hiring their own claims reviewers. “The middlemen are trying to challenge a lot of things that really shouldn’t be challenged. The best claims are the ones that are handled in a professional way from the start.” 

What’s more, the attorneys say, if it’s a close call about who was responsible for the injury, the employee will usually win. Save your money and stick with what you can control by keeping a designated folder with correspondence, witness statements if applicable, and any accident reports related to the worker’s injury. Include records of the employee’s wages and benefits.

One of the most important things you can do after an employee is injured is to keep the lines of communication open, Lipsey says. 

“A lot of times, employers don’t call to see how the employee is doing in the hospital. A person could be working there 25 years and the employer is like, ‘I can’t talk to them because they’re the enemy now.’ That really disturbs a lot of people, because a good chunk of these people were injured for no fault of their own. You may be able to salvage an employee [relationship] and limit liability if you’re just respectful to that employee after the injury and don’t treat them like they have committed a crime.”