Workers Compensation Insurance
Workers Compensation Insurance: Do I Need It?
If you own a business with employees, you need Workers compensation insurance. As an employer, you have a legal responsibility to your employees to make the workplace safe. However, accidents happen even when you and your workers are taking every reasonable safety measure.
Workers compensation insurance pays for medical care and physical rehabilitation of your injured workers, and helps to replace lost wages while they are unable to work. In general, this form of liability insurance pays for medical care and physical rehabilitation of your injured workers and helps to replace lost wages while they are unable to work.
State laws, which vary significantly, govern the amount of benefits paid and other compensation provisions for your workers. In the state of Colorado, for example, the state may grant your workers Injury Leave for up to 90 workdays, once they have missed approximately three work shifts. Colorado determines leave by occurrences, not hours, so the state charges your workers for one instance for Injury Leave regardless of absence for 1 hour or 48 hours.
To protect yourself from lawsuits resulting from workplace accidents, and to provide medical care or compensation for lost income to your employees hurt in the workplace, businesses need workers compensation insurance. Workers compensation insurance will cover your employees if they are hurt on the workplace premises or in auto accidents while on business. Workers compensation insurance also covers work-related illnesses, but do not confuse this with your health insurance!
Workers compensation provides payments to your injured workers, without regard to who was at fault in the accident. This payment includes time lost from work and for medical and rehabilitation services for your team. It also provides death benefits to surviving spouses and dependents of your employees.
You must buy workers compensation insurance as a separate policy from your Business Owners or Liability policies. Although in-home business and business owners’ policies are package policies, they do not include coverage for workers' injuries.
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