Potential Dangers in the Workplace | Your Rights When Your Employer Is Not a Subscriber to the Texas Workers’ Compensation System
You’ve been hurt on the job. In every state but Texas, your employer would be required to provide workers’ compensation benefits to cover lost income and any medical expenses related to your injuries. In Texas, however, an employer may opt out of the state’s workers’ comp system, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have legal rights if you get injured.
What are the common workplace hazards that can lead to a claim against a Texas employer who doesn’t subscribe to the state’s workers’ compensation program? What can you do to protect your rights if you’re injured and your employer is a non-subscriber?
What Can You Do in Texas If Your Employer Does Not Subscribe to the Workers’ Compensation System?
Even though a Texas employer may opt out of workers’ compensation, the employer can still be liable for injuries suffered by an employee on the job. The employer may voluntarily choose to cover your lost wages, as well as any reasonable and necessary medical expenses. If your employer declines to do so, you can bring a personal injury lawsuit in civil court to recover compensation for your losses, including wages and income, unreimbursed medical expenses, physical and emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship or consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life.
How Does a Personal Injury Lawsuit for Work-Related Injuries Differ From a Workers’ Compensation Claim?
The workers’ compensation laws were enacted to benefit both workers and employers. As a worker, when your employer subscribes to the state’s workers’ compensation system, you don’t need to prove negligence. You only need to show that you were injured and that the injury occurred during the course of your employment. Furthermore, because the process is streamlined, you can typically start receiving benefits within a few weeks, provided your claim is approved. If your claim is approved, calculating the amount of benefits is fairly straightforward, as it’s based on your average weekly wage over a specific period of time.
With a personal injury lawsuit against a non-subscribing employer, you must file a complaint and wait for your employer to file an answer. Then there’s a period of time set aside for discovery, during which the parties seek to gather evidence for trial. As a general rule, you can expect to wait months or years before your case actually goes to trial. The amount of your recovery can vary significantly, depending on the determinations of the jury.
Common Types of Workplace Risks Associated With Non-Subscriber Injury Claims
The most common hazards that result in non-subscriber claims in Texas include:
- Debris, clutter, or other dangerous conditions that can lead to slips, trips, and falls—Such hazards can involve wet or slippery floors, jobsite materials, trash, tools or equipment, or other objects that pose fall risks.
- Malfunction or breakdown of machinery or equipment—Many occupations involve the use of machinery with many moving parts.
- Repetitive-stress injuries—In manufacturing, warehouse jobs, and even office jobs, workers may suffer injury from performing the same task over and over for hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
- Falling objects—Workers can be injured by falling tools, jobsite materials, debris, or other items.
Contact the Workplace Accident Lawyers at Bailey & Galyen
At the law offices of Bailey & Galyen, we bring more than 40 years of experience to individuals in Texas and nationwide who suffer work-related injuries. Over the past four decades, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for our clients. Contact us by e-mail or call our offices at one of the convenient locations listed below to schedule a free initial consultation with a proven pedestrian accident lawyer. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
