If you have a small business, you might wonder about workers’ compensation insurance. It’s one of the coverages that comes up a lot when business insurance becomes the topic of conversation. What’s the big deal about workers’ comp insurance? Why do you as a small business need workers’ compensation insurance? We’re going to explain what workers’ comp does and explain why it’s so important for small businesses to have it.
The term “general liability” may lead you to believe that this coverage can handle all sorts of injuries and claims against your business, no matter the visitor. However, one type of frequent visitor – your employee – may not be covered by this policy. Let’s take a look at why your general liability insurance may not cover the injuries of employees and how you can keep your business protected in various situations.
Auto body shops aren’t without their risks, and that includes risks that directly involve your employees. They’re the ones who are working with the cars and spending a lot of time in the shop itself. And that’s why workers’ comp is one of the insurance coverages that auto body shops need to consider. But why is workers’ comp really necessary? Why do you as the owner if the auto shop need to go on the hunt for workers’ comp? We’ll explain four reasons that auto body shops and workers’ comp go hand in hand.
If you have an auto body shop, you’re probably on the hunt for the best auto repair shop insurance out there. Businesses need a financial safety net – and that’s where your insurance comes into play. There are a number of coverages out there to protect your auto body shop, but how do you get auto shop insurance? What is the process of getting great auto body shop insurance? We’ll explain how to get insurance for your business.
You’re the fearless leader of your business. But with the title of Fearless Leader comes a lot of responsibility that gets heaped on your plate. One of those things is business insurance. There are a lot of possible risks that could befall your business, and among those is the possibility that an employee could get hurt. That’s what workers’ compensation insurance is for. We’ll explain what workers’ comp is and how it can help you provide for your employees if they get hurt on the job.
No employer wants to see an employee get hurt on the job. You don’t want to see your employees in pain, and workplace injuries often have long-lasting effects on any business. But accidents are inevitable, and eventually you may find yourself dealing with a workplace injury or illness. This is why workers’ compensation insurance is a vital part of any business’s insurance plan. If you do ever have a workplace accident, there are six things you absolutely have to do.
Sometimes there just aren’t enough bodies around to get all the work done that needs to get done. If you find yourself shorthanded, you might be considering taking on some temporary workers from a staffing agency. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement – the employee gets some work, you get an extra set of hands to help out, and you save yourself the trouble of having to go through the hiring process to find someone.
But the problem is that since your temporary workers are only temporary, they might not be covered by workers’ compensation insurance. So what would happen if they, say, fell off a ladder? Fell down a flight of stairs? Slipped on a wet tile floor in the break room? The point is that it would be hard to know who’s responsible for covering the medical bills, or the legal costs if they decide to sue.
Anyways, the point is that you need to make sure that you completely understand the relationship between the worker in question and the staffing agency. How the staffing agency classifies them (as a W2 employee or a 1099 worker) affects how they are – or are not – covered by workers’ comp or general liability insurance.
So. With that lead-in behind us, let’s jump in.
As an employer, one of your worst nightmares might be one of your employees getting hurt on the job. Your employees have families to support. If they’re injured, they’re out of work for as long as it takes them to heal. They might have a bit of a chip on their shoulder towards your company, too, if they got hurt while doing work to benefit your business.
Workers’ compensation insurance claims and employee injuries are also very costly. Getting the employee back to good health is, of course, the priority, but the costs of doing so can be very high for your business. However, there’s a way that you can help your employees and your business if someone gets hurt while working. You can create a return to work program.
Workers’ compensation insurance can be a real lifesaver for a business if an employee gets hurt or becomes ill because of their job. It’s a way to protect them and make sure that they’re provided for if something happens to them on the job. Safety should always be a priority at the workplace – along with helping you and your employees avoid injuries, this will help you lower your workers’ comp premiums as an added bonus.
Anyways, if something happens on the job, you may not necessarily be to blame for the accident or injury, but you were the one requiring the employee to be there. Thus, workers’ comp insurance is there to take care of your responsibility to the employee. If you’re in the position of handling a workers’ comp claim and you’re not sure if it’s going to “count” as a claim, keep in mind that there are a few criteria to be met for a claim to be compensable. (Compensable basically means that the employee is eligible to receive workers’ comp benefits because of their injury.)
So, what are these magic criteria, you may ask?
We’ve broken the requirements into three questions below to help you figure out where your workers’ comp incident stands.
When an employee gets hurt on the job, the top priority is making sure that they’re okay and that they get the care that they need. So it’s important for employers to have sufficient workers’ compensation coverage to make sure that their employees and their families are provided for if an accident happens on the job. However, there are still a few things that you can do to manage the cost of your workers’ compensation premium. We’ve put together a list of six tips that will help you understand what goes into determining your workers’ compensation premium and explain how you can lower it.
