It’s no fun being injured at work or acquiring some kind of work related sickness. Fortunately, all states, including Oklahoma, make provisions for workers so that they can obtain compensation for their workplace injury or illness related medical costs and at least a part of the wages they might lose. Each state makes its own rules and if you are unsure of your employer’s own insurance status it may be sensible to do so before you are involved in an accident yourself. Employment in Oklahoma Office workers, not surprisingly, make up the largest category of workers in Oklahoma as described in the Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2016. 253,000 people in the state, about 15% of the total working population do some type of office work. This is on a par with just about every other state in the country. Another 10% of workers are employed in sales and related jobs such as in supermarkets and stores, a further 10% in food preparation and serving type employment, while production jobs come in fourth in the list of categories with less than 6% of Oklahoma’s workers. The vast majority of these people should be covered by Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation insurance rules. What is the Situation Regarding Workers’ Comp in Oklahoma? The workers compensation insurance requirements are quite complex as there are a large number of exceptions to the need for an employer to take out insurance. Most of these probably do not concern you unless you are an agricultural worker, a federal employee or if you are employed by a family member. These are three categories amongst the list of exemptions. If you have an unusual job and are worried about whether you are covered by your employer’s insurance policy it is worth finding out. Generally, the vast majority of employers in Oklahoma must have sufficient insurance coverage in case one of their employees is injured, becomes ill or dies. Compensation may be paid out to cover certain losses, including medical bills, lost wages, benefits for rehabilitation and in the event of death, benefits to dependents. It can be assumed that if you are in a regular full time job that is not agricultural in nature, you should be covered by workers comp. Let’s say you are working in a restaurant. This is a common occupation and there are many other employees in the state who do this sort of work. Imagine you are badly hurt as a result of a fire that starts in the kitchen and spreads quickly. You are most likely to be covered for the cost of medical treatment which can be substantial in a case like this. If you cannot return to work for several weeks as a result of the burns to your body, workers’ comp should pay for the majority of what you may have normally earned. Note that workers’ comp. coverage means that you cannot file a claim with a personal injury attorney separate from the workers comp claim. However, this may be an option if you discover that your employer was uninsured at the time of the accident. An Experienced Workers Comp Attorney Can Help You With Your Claim If your claim doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, you are confused about your rights under the law, are finding difficulty with paperwork associated with a workers’ comp claim you can always contact an experienced attorney to help and give valuable advice. If your claim is denied, or your employer wasn’t insured then these are additional reasons why you might seek the help of a qualified workers’ comp attorney to get sufficient and timely compensation.
