Can a PEO Help with Workers Compensation?
As a business owner, what keeps you up at night? It could be a slow quarter, a tight budget for the upcoming fiscal year or a key employee leaving the organization. But an equal amount of thought needs to be dedicated to what steps and processes are in place for an employee that is injured or becomes ill as a direct result of their job. That’s where Method and our Worker’s Compensation policies come in!
Our Risk & Safety team will work directly with you and the impacted employee to provide coverage and support, answer any and all questions and most importantly, make sure all of the “T’s” are crossed and the “i’s” are dotted.
An effective Workers’ Compensation policy is insurance that provides cash benefits and/or medical care for your employees, without the headache. While you may have your own Workers’ Compensation policy today, reach out and let us know if we can share the details around our plans to learn more about the differences and pros and cons.
Employers pay for this insurance and shall not require the employee to contribute to the cost of compensation. Weekly cash benefits and medical care are paid by the employer’s insurance carrier, as directed by the Workers’ Compensation Board. The Workers’ Compensation Board is a state agency that processes the claims. If Board intervention is necessary, it will determine whether that insurer will reimburse for cash benefits and/or medical care, and the amounts payable.
In a workers’ compensation case, no one party is determined to be at fault. The amount that a claimant receives is not decreased by the claimant’s carelessness, nor increased by an employer’s fault. However, a worker loses the right to workers’ compensation if the injury results solely from their intoxication from drugs or alcohol, or from the intent to injure themself or someone else.
A claim is paid if the employer or insurance carrier agrees that the injury or illness is work-related. If the employer or insurance carrier disputes the claim, no cash benefits are paid until the workers’ compensation law judge decides who is right. If a worker is not receiving benefits because the employer or insurance carrier is arguing that the injury is not job-related, that worker may be eligible for disability benefits in the meantime. Any payments made under the Disability Program, however, will be subtracted from future workers’ compensation awards.
If you can return to work but your injury prevents you from earning the same wages you once did, you may be entitled to a benefit that will make up two-thirds of the difference. You may also return to work in light or alternate duty before you are fully healed.