This assignment will assess Competency 10: Differentiate among employee welfare programs including Social Security Workers Compensation and Unemployment Compensation.
Using the information you gathered in Learning Activities 1 and 2 of this learning plan and any additional information you locate using the Internet compose an essay to distinguish when an employee is covered by Workers Compensation or covered by private/public health insurance.
Workers Compensation is seen as something of a trade-off because the employer loses several highly successful defenses to the injured employees claim (assumption of risk contributory negligence and the fellow-servant doctrine); and in return employers get immunity from suits by the injured employees. For the workers Workers Compensation plans permit relatively easy access to benefits and relatively simple adjudication of disputed claims.
Workers Compensation procedures have been left primarily to states to administer with a few specific exceptions such as railroad workers (covered by the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA)); sailors (covered by the Jones Act); and many other maritime workers (covered by the Longshoremens and Harbor Workers Compensation Act). Workers Compensation will always follow a very specific procedure in order for injured employees to recover but these procedures will often vary from state to state.
Find and review your states Workers Compensation procedures (often available through a states Department of Labor [or equivalent]). Your paper should provide an analysis of when an employee is covered by Workers Compensation vs. when they are covered by private/public health insurance; how they apply for Workers Compensation benefits; how benefits are calculated; and what the exceptions to the benefits are if any. Your paper should also include information on what employers obligations are to Workers Compensation and whether the employer can challenge the employees benefits.
Your essay should beone to twopages in length and follow these guidelines: