Have you been involved in a workplace accident or become ill at work? Most South Carolina workers enjoy the protection of basic compensation through their employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy. A successful workers’ comp. claim can help to pay medical expenses related to a workplace injury or illness as well as help to pay for part of any wages that have been lost while absent from your job. Employment in South Carolina Nearly 2 million people in South Carolina work in hundreds of different types of jobs. As in other states in the country certain occupational categories are the most important. In fact, five occupations account for over half the entire South Carolina workforce, according to data supplied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One in six workers in South Carolina works in some type of office. One in eleven works in a store or supermarket or other sales related job. Food preparation, production and transportation are the other big employment categories in the state. South Carolina’s Workers' Compensation Laws And You South Carolina’s workers’ compensation laws make it mandatory for employers of four or more employees to provide coverage in the form of workers’ compensation insurance for their workers. If you have a job where there are less than three other employees and you have an accident at work, this may mean that you cannot file a claim for workers’ compensation because your employer is legally not insured. There are a small number of other exceptions to workers’ compensation insurance regulations. Employers of domestic and agricultural workers as well as railroad workers do not need to have workers’ comp. insurance by state law. The absence of workers’ compensation insurance does not mean that you as an injured employee cannot claim compensation as you may be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer. However, the conditions for success in such a claim are more exacting and you must have proof that the blame for the injury or illness lies with the employer and not you. If you've experienced a work-related injury severe enough that you had to take time off work and seek medical treatment, you may be able to seek compensation for your medical bills and lost wages. Lets go over an example worker's comp claim: you are working in a food processing plant somewhere in the state and are injured by a faulty machine. After seeking medical treatment, you should let your employer know what happened and give details of how it happened. You have 90 days to do this and you then have 2 years from the date of the accident to file a claim for workers’ compensation. Unsatisfied With the Progress of Your Claim? Workers’ compensation claims may not go as monthly as you would like and sometimes may be denied for a variety of reasons. South Carolina’s workers’ comp. laws are more complex than some other states. If you are unsatisfied with the progress of your claim or unhappy with a decision you should talk to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to see if your rights are being observed.
