Business Owners : How Important Is Workman's Comp Insurance?
 

If an employee gets hurt on the jobsite and you don't have worker's comp and he gets a lawyer...how much shit are you in?

One of my brokers has 15 people working at his shop. One of his guys got into an accident and seriously injured his back. They didnt' have worker's comp insurance so he couldn't get covered. He has since quit and hired a lawyer...is that company in deep shit or what?

Have any of you ever dealt with a similar sitution? My broker is FREAKING OUT and I can't say that I blame him.

Wouldnt other types of insurance cover this? Maybe business liability insurance?

Guess he probably doesnt have that either though.

There is a minimum number of employees that you must have to make workmans comp a requirement. I think it is either 6 or 12 (I am almost sure it is 12).....but is is not real expensive in our world because the worst thing that we deal with in this industry is Carpel Tunnel....we dont have to worry about workers falling of scaffolding or something like that.

With that said, though, there is no doubt in my mind that at 15 people it is REQUIRED...so your friend is in a world of doo-doo if this guy gets a lawyer. Tell him to start preparing.


--T

Employers exempt who employ fewer than:
Non-construction businesses, workers' compensation is mandatory if you have four or more employees
Construction businesses coverage is mandatory for one or more employees.


http://www.workerscompensation.com/f.../glance.htm#02

A *lot* depends on the jurisdiction you are in, and the applicable laws.

Most business liability policies exclude injury to employees. (They only cover injury/damage to third parties).

He's fine! I just got off the phone with him. It all depends on the working conditions and his employee got hurt because of his own negligence.

The worker's comp people came in and audited his shop and everything is fine.

He still may get sued so the best thing is if he is served get a Private Investigator / I was a private investigator for many years in all my years only 2 cases I had the person was truely injured