Employee or Independent Contractor - A Workers Compensation Issue

"I thought he was an independent contractor!" ...No, son, that's what they call an employee!

If you've been around the workers compensation business for a while employee or independent contractor is something you'll hear quite a bit. Whether it's done on purpose or an honest mistake the line between a legitimate independent contractor and employee may be blurred at best. Over the years I've worked with many clients who were caught in this workers comp trap. ....It could happen to you!

An example...Lets say you have an office based business, maybe you own an accounting firm, and have an individual come into your office several times a week after hours to clean, you know, empty trash, vacuum, dust, etc. You hired this person because they also clean you home and you like them cause they are trust worthy and do a good job. So, for workers compensation purposes are they an employee or independent contractor?

Another example...You own a successful floor covering store. Your employees conduct sales both on and off your premises and you have a office staff. You hire a handy man to do some repair work on the gutters on your building and he falls off his ladder breaking his arm. Employee or independent contractor?

You might be surprised at the answers and just how the answer might effect your workers compensation premium!

We'll continue with this topic a little later.

New Workers Compensation Benefits Web Pages

Workers Compensation Consultants has just put up three new web pages with valuable, free updated information about injured employees and workers rights and benefits for Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. These pages contain detailed information about medical payments due a worker because of an on the job injury, tips on how employee lost wages are calculated and provided, Temporary Total Disability (TTD), Permanent Total Disability (PTD) and Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) limitations, death benefits and limitations on attorney fees along with other valuable contact information.

Here's the pages:

Alabama Workers Compensation Benefits
Tennessee Workers Compensation Benefits
Florida Workers Compensation Benefits

So if you are looking for workers compensation benefit information for any of these states just click on the above link.

Thanks!

A Guide To Workers Compensation Benefits - Help for Injured Workers

Injured on the job? Do I have workers workers compensation benefits? Will my medical bills be paid? What about my lost income because I can't work due to my injury on the job? How much will I get paid? Will my job still be there for me? Can I be fired because of my injury?

If you're injured on the job you'll find that these are just a few of the questions that may go through your head. Workers compensation benefits can be confusing for everyone involved, even the professionals and finding a good source for answers is important.

Work comp benefits that apply in one state may not apply in another or if they do may be drastically different. For example medical payments may be limited in one state and unlimited in another; Temporary Total Disability (TTD) payments for lost wages may be set at 66 2/3% in one state with no caps and in another state 75% of a workers average weekly wage but capped at a certain maximum level; Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) and Permanent Total Disability (PTD) may be treated completely different in different states. So when looking for information and answers about workers compensation benefits, you have to be specific; workers comp benefits are state specific and finding a good single source for answers to workers compensation benefit questions is not easy.

Here's a link to a good, easy to navigate directory of workers compensation benefits for all fifty (50) states:

Workers Compensation State Benefits Directory

You'll find answers to your questions about workers comp benefits for any state at this site.

Thanks!