If you work remotely, you may be covered by workers’ compensation, even though your job duties don’t take you onto your employer’s premises. However, there are a number of factors that could impact your claim should you be injured on the job while working from home.
First of all, it’s important to distinguish whether you’re actually an employee. If you’re a freelancer or independent contractor, then you don’t qualify for workers’ compensation coverage.
Under Illinois law, the vast majority of employers must provide workers’ compensation coverage for their employees. As such, employers in the state can’t usually “opt out” of providing coverage or carrying workers’ comp insurance, though there may be some cases where an employer may elect not to provide coverage.
The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act allows employers to provide workers’ compensation coverage in exchange for being free from liability for workplace accidents (meaning employees usually can’t sue them for injuries sustained on the job). In some industries, this coverage is mandatory. The Workers’ Compensation Act is considered to automatically apply to industries involving:
Those who have become exposed to the novel coronavirus while on the job may be entitled to workers’ compensation, particularly when it impacts their ability to work and warrants medical treatment. However, it begs the question of how much these claims are actually worth. If your claim settles, how much would the payout be?
The simple answer is that it’s a bit early to tell just yet.
Workplace accidents can sometimes be fatal, but even if the employer was at fault, a lawsuit may not be possible due to the way workers’ compensation law works. In Illinois, workers (or in this case, their families) cannot sue the employer for negligence in these cases. However, there may be a possibility for a wrongful death lawsuit if other parties were involved in the injury.
Illinois workers’ compensation law is something of a trade-off. Employees cannot sue their employer for their injuries (except in certain rare cases), and employers are obligated to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ compensation benefits are provided regardless of fault, which means that while the employer may not necessarily be directly liable for a workplace injury, they are still responsible for covering the cost of those injuries.
Given the concentration of illness present at many healthcare facilities, it’s important for them to take stringent measures to prevent the spread of disease such as COVID-19 and common hospital infections. If you fall seriously ill as a result of being treated at a hospital, you may have a case, though there are factors that could keep you from recovering damages.
Note that during the coronavirus pandemic in Illinois, any healthcare facility that provides care or assistance for those who have contracted COVID-19 has some immunity to liability, so if your illness dates to this time, you likely won’t be able to recover damages.
With more people working from home than ever before, there are much greater odds of sustaining a work-related injury while out of the office. Slips, falls, and repetitive strain injuries can easily happen with home-based work, and they may warrant compensation in the right circumstances.
First of all, however, a worker who is an independent contractor does not qualify for workers’ compensation. Illinois workers’ comp covers only employees, not self-employed independent contractors. As such, if you are running a home-based business of your own, you won’t qualify for compensation from any of your clients.
If you have been injured as a result of another person’s negligence, it’s natural to want to see that person punished. However, the primary purpose of personal injury damages is to compensate you for your injury, not necessarily to punish those responsible.
That said, punitive damages are occasionally assessed in order to directly penalize those responsible for an accident or injury. That said, they don’t apply in most cases, so they’re fairly rare.
Some of the most common questions Illinois residents have when it comes to worker’s compensation—as well as their answers—include those below.
Workers’ compensation is designed to cover work-related injuries. As such, it pays for injuries or serious illnesses contracted in the course of your work duties.
Illinois workers’ compensation law prevents employees from suing their employers in the event of a workplace injury, including illnesses contracted on the job.
However, employees may be able to recover benefits if they become ill as a result of performing workplace duties.
Hospital workers, including RNs, CNAs, and LPNs, face numerous challenges in their fast-paced line of work. These challenges often lead to injury, and it’s important for nurses to know that they are entitled to workers’ compensation if that happens.
Illinois workers’ compensation laws cover the vast majority of employees in the state, including nurses. The law is a no-fault system, meaning you don’t have to prove fault in order to collect compensation for your injury.
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