Work Injuries
The word “injury” is very broad. It includes everything from sudden injuries like broken limbs or pulled muscles to injuries that take a long time to surface, like asbestosis (from repeated exposure to asbestos) or repetitive stress conditions (from typing too much).
Examples of injuries that qualify and injuries that don’t:
- If you are working on a construction site and a coworker accidentally breaks your arm with a 2 x 4, this is obviously an on-the-job injury, and it’s covered.
- Any injury you sustain should be covered if you deliver work packages and get in a traffic accident.
- If you are delivering packages, but you take a three-hour break from work to go and visit your grandma and take her shopping in your employer’s van – and then get into a traffic accident – you probably will not be covered by worker’s compensation because the accident did not occur within the scope of your employment.
- If you take a break from your job every hour to smoke a cigarette and it develops into lung cancer, you will not be covered by workers compensation since the “injury to your lungs” had nothing to do with your work.
- If your boss yells at you every day and your job is so stressful that you need to get treatment and miss work, your stress could be covered by workers’ compensation – unless the defense can prove that other problems in your life were the main cause of your stress.
Are emotional injuries covered?
Yes. An injury doesn’t have to be physical – it can be emotional. But it can be difficult to prove that you have stress because of your job. And making a stress claim might cause your employer to examine your psychological records. If you have further questions, consult with an employment lawyer in your area.
