What impact can personal fault have on workers’ compensation?

There are countless ways in which workers can get hurt on the job. Some employment risks are industry-specific. Workers in kitchens have to worry about blades and ovens, while workers in construction have to worry about falling from a significant elevation or exposure to electricity.

Workers can get hurt due to equipment failures, personal mistakes or the misconduct of others. How much impact can personal fault have on a California workers’ compensation claim?

Workers are eligible for no-fault coverage

Certain types of insurance coverage focus heavily on who is at fault for an incident. For example, liability insurance after a crash only applies when the policyholder is the party at fault for the collision. Those in need of compensation often have to prove who was to blame for the incident.

That is thankfully not how workers’ compensation claims work. Employees hurt on the job do not need to prove that their employer or a third party caused their injuries. They also do not need to worry about proving that they are personally blameless.

People can qualify for benefits even if they made a mistake or contributed to their own injuries through negligence. Sometimes, a worker could lose their eligibility for benefits if an employer can prove that they injured themselves on purpose, were starting a fight when they got hurt or that their impairment while on the job caused their injuries.

For the most part, California employees can request workers’ compensation benefits regardless of the underlying factors that may have led to them getting hurt. As such, learning about the rules that determine eligibility for workers’ compensation may help people feel comfortable about filing a claim after getting hurt on the job.