What If Your Employer Has No Insurance?
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
If there’s one thing that American culture strives hard to maintain it’s a fair deal; especially for honest, hardworking Americans. This is a country that is built on the idea that if you work hard, put in the time, and do an honest job, you will be rewarded for that effort. And it also means that when someone else does wrong by you, that person should make it up to you.
In the world of employment, this usually means that if you’re injured while on the job, there will be some kind of workers compensation that you are due, to help you recover and to make up for any lost wages you might experience as a result of your injury until you’re ready to get back on the job.
But what if your employer doesn’t have workers compensation? Is that even possible? Different states have different requirements for workers compensation, so how does it work here in Florida?
Industry Dependent
In the state of Florida, different sectors of commerce and industry will have different requirements for when compulsory workers compensation must be implemented for employees. In the business of construction, for example, if a company has even just one, single employee, that employee MUST have the protection of workers compensation before he or she can be legally hired and allowed to go to work.
However, for non-construction jobs, such as cooks and waiters at a restaurant, for example, things differ. If a job is non-construction in nature, and doesn’t involve being constantly exposed to heavy equipment like cranes, or dangerous tools like plasma cutting torches in a daily basis, the business must have a minimum for four employees before it becomes law to have workers compensation in place.
Then there are the more tricky industries, such as farming. Florida, of course, is famous throughout the country for its oranges, which means that when it comes to harvesting the crop, a big number of temporary workers are required during the season to get the job done. In instances where farming or a business involves seasonal workers, a minimum of six regular employees are required, or 12 seasonal workers, who work over 30 days, but less than 45 for the year.
When It Fails
This does mean, unfortunately, that you may find yourself in a situation where you are injured through no fault of your own on the job. Depending on the industry you are involved, your company may not have been legally required to have workers compensation, so what do you do now? Are you just forced to pay for your own recovery out of your salary, even while you are unable to work?
Fortunately, the answer is “no.” Even if your employer does not have workers compensation, and was not legally required to, that does not mean you are not owed workers compensation if it is rightfully due. An experienced workers compensation attorney can still hear out your case, and present you with legal options that go beyond the standard workers compensation practices.