No one chooses to suffer an injury while at work or become ill because of their job. There are immediate worries about who is going to pay for treatment, and then there are worries about the loss of entitlement to wages, health insurance, vacation, sickness and pension benefits and whatever else has been part of ongoing employment. Most people understand that they should be entitled to workers’ compensation payments as long as their employer has taken out this kind of insurance, but what happens to all the other employment benefits? There are no hard and fast rules about benefits while taking time off work on workers’ comp. The reality is that some employers have better benefits than others, and the time you take off work can ultimately affect these benefits. Talk to a workers’ compensation attorney about your legal rights. Your Employer’s Obligations if You are Injured or Become Sick at Work Most employers are required by law to have workers’ compensation insurance. For non-government employers these laws are determined by the state. Texas is the only state where employers have a choice over taking out workers’ comp. but in practice many still do so because this insurance helps protect employers as much as it does employees. Employers cannot penalize an employee for claiming workers’ compensation, e.g. by firing them. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance, so even if the injury was the employee’s fault, they should still be able to file a claim for compensation. What About Health Insurance and Other Benefits? Employers are not required to maintain health insurance contributions while the injured or sick employee is not working if the employee has been paying for an employer sponsored health insurance program. This is something that is left to individual employers to decide. It is possible that your employer is a good employer and maintains contributions during your absence. All other benefits depend on you maintaining your job. Each employer provides a different package of benefits which go with the job or no benefits at all. As long as you return to work at some point and resume the job you were doing before, you would expect to resume entitlement to the benefits you enjoyed before your injury or illness. However, you may lose some of the value of those benefits because you were not at work. There is no legal responsibility placed on the employer to maintain entitlement in your absence. You Will Find a Workers’ Compensation Attorney Very Helpful Claiming workers’ compensation can seem a bit of a nightmare. Not all claims are honored and you are never sure what your rights are. You will find that you can get sound advice about a claim and how it will affect any other employment entitlements and benefits from a workers’ comp. attorney. If your claim is denied for any reason, or you think that you are not being offered sufficient compensation, it is advisable to contact an attorney to discuss your legal options. Additional Resources Workers' Compensation Attorneys by State Will I Still Have Health Insurance Coverage While on WC?
