If you own a business in Connecticut with several employees working for you, the law requires you to get a worker’s compensation insurance (WC). The insurance cover is of benefit to the employees once they get work-related injuries. When your employee receives an injury while performing their duties at work, it is your responsibility to ensure that they receive medical care immediately at a facility that you choose to provide the care.
Any refusal from the employee to receive the first medical care will warrant their loss of the worker’s compensation benefits. When the employee is claiming compensation from the injury, they should provide you with a Notice of Claim for compensation that you should forward to your insurer. You should as well acquire the Employer’s First Report of Occupational Injury and present it to the WCC chairman’s office one week after the employee issues you with the compensation notice.
There are times when employees may be trying to extort money out of your business by making false injury compensation claims. When you think that your employee may be lying to you regarding the compensation, you may contest their claim by filing a Form 43 within 28 days of receiving the notice from the employee. There is a process that determines if the application is valid, which the WCC handles. However, if the results from the WCC do not satisfy you, you may take it further to the state appellate courts.
If you run your business without a worker’s compensation insurance, you may be subject to penalties that may make you lose thousands of dollars. In Connecticut, you may get your insurance cover from private insurers or the Connecticut Insurance Department. You may as well opt to self-insure yourself. But if you run a small business, you may have to spend a lot to cover potential claims making it a bad idea.
This information is only for educational purposes. It is not legal advice.
