Workers' Compensation Insurance

Summary

This practice note discusses fundamental aspects of workers' compensation insurance. In everyday parlance it is called workers' comp. The term is often used to refer to the insurance itself and to the body of law that dictates whether a business must maintain it for the benefit of employees. Workers' compensation is as much a program of specified benefits as it is of insurance as the latter term is usually used. Monetary benefits can be paid by an insurance company, self-insured employer, or state organization to which employers who are legally required to provide benefits pay the equivalent of premiums. Topics discussed in this practice note include workers' compensation's legislative and social history, types of employees that are covered, and the fundamental issues involved in most workers' compensation claims.