Understanding the Basics of Workers’ Compensation in California

The Basics of Workers’ Compensation in California

Workers’ compensation exists to protect employees who are injured while on the job. For delivery drivers, a common work-related accident is a car or truck accident. For employees in a warehouse or plant, the lifting or moving of an object is common cause of injury. For practically everyone everywhere, a slip and fall can occur when workplace surfaces fall below safety standards. In any scenario, an injured worker may be eligible for certain workers’ compensation benefits.

Medical Care Is A Benefit Of Worker’s Compensation In California

A workplace injury can result in lost wages from missed work, and even have adverse long-term impact on one’s ability to perform his or her job. Before these concerns surface, however, there is the very pressing need to receive medical care to treat injuries in the immediate aftermath of an on-the-job accident. To address this need, workers’ compensation commonly provides the benefit of medical care. When it does, medical care provided to help an employee recover from an injury caused by work is paid for by the employer. Common examples of medical care include physician visits, medical tests, prescription and over-the-counter medicines, medical equipment, and healthcare-related travel costs.

Temporary Disability Benefits May Be Included In Workers’ Compensation In California

A workplace injury can compound a painful physical injury or illness with the psychological stress of losing income due to recovery-related missed work. Fortunately, workers’ compensation commonly provides temporary disability benefits. These benefits consist of payments from an employer to make up for any wages that are lost as a result of an injury caused by work rendering an employee unable to perform his or job as usual.

Permanent Disability Benefits May Be Included In Workers’ Compensation In California

In some tragic scenarios, a workplace injury results in a permanent disability. A lost limb, paralysis, brain damage – each of these injuries can permanently prevent an employee from making a full recovery and being able to perform a job as usual again. As with temporary disability benefits, when workers’ compensation is in place, an employer may make permanent disability payments, whether over the long-term or in a lump sum, to account for an impossibility of recovery.

Supplemental Job Displacement Benefits May Be Included In Workers’ Compensation In California

Sometimes, a workplace injury may result in a permanent disability, but not altogether prohibit an employee from working in some capacities. In this scenario, an employee may still want to work, but the employer doesn’t want the employee to return to work. To aid the employee in returning to the workforce for a new employer, workers’ compensation, if applicable, may provide supplemental job displacement benefits to pay for training or education needed to rejoin the workforce.

Death Benefits May Be Included In Workers’ Compensation In California

Finally, in the unfortunate event that a workplace accident causes an employee’s death, workers’ compensation may provide death benefits to the deceased employee’s spouse, children, or other dependents.

Understanding the Basics of Workers’ Compensation in California

To find out for which workers’ compensation benefits you may be eligible, contact an experienced California workers’ compensation attorney.

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