If you employ others, you probably need to carry worker’s compensation insurance. There are very few exceptions to this rule.
It is no-fault insurance, so your employees can claim compensation if injured at work, even if they played some role in the accident. Even if they can be blamed for their own accident, that does not affect how much they get.
They only lose their right to claim “if the injury results solely from his or her intoxication from drugs or alcohol, or from the intent to injure him/herself or someone else.”
Yet what if neither your company nor the worker was to blame?
Your employees do not operate in a bubble where everything they touch and everywhere they go is owned solely by you. Hence they could suffer an accident or illness while at work that is due to someone else entirely. For example:
- They are hit by another driver while driving for you on a public street
- They slip on a wet floor while walking into a client’s premises to do a job
- They are injured by a piece of machinery that explodes due to a manufacturer’s fault
While you want to make sure your employee is OK, you do not see why you should foot the bill via your insurance when you don’t have to do so.
Subrogation allows you to put the blame where it is due
Filing a claim against the negligent third party may enable you to get them to pay the costs that your insurance would otherwise have to cover. This is called subrogation. Subrogation is complicated, yet it can be of great benefit, and it can ultimately lower your costs. Get legal help to see if can resort to it when employee claims against your worker’s compensation insurance.
