Workers Compensation
| Course of Employment and the Personal Comfort Doctrine |
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| An employee injured in the course of employment is entitled to workers' compensation benefits. However, compensability may remain unaffected even if the injury occurred when the employee deviated from his specific job duties to engage in an activity that was purely personal in nature and solely for his own comfort. The personal comfort doctrine allows employees to slightly deviate from their job duties, within the usual time and space parameters of their employment, without losing workers' compensation protection. It is generally understood that employees should be able to tend to their physical needs, such as using the restroom, getting a drink of water, or even taking a break to smoke, during the course of their employment. More... |
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| Suicide and Self-Injury as Bar to Workers' Compensation |
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| In almost all states, suicide or the infliction of self-injury will bar the receipt of workers' compensation benefits. The overriding issue when the employee commits suicide appears to be that of causation. If an employee's compensable injury is the proximate cause of his suicide and the employee suffered from some form of insanity or mental infirmity, then death benefits would likely be payable. Basically, in order for benefits to be paid, the employee must be injured in the course of his employment and then commit suicide as a result. Employers gain a complete defense when no such injury has occurred or when outside forces, such as the employee's personal situation, have a greater influence on the employee's decision to end his life. A physical injury is not a prerequisite to the recovery of benefits. A mental injury is just as viable as the cause of the employee's suicide. More... |
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| Black Lung Benefits Act - "Operators" and "Responsible Operators" |
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| Under the Black Lung Benefits Act) More... |
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| Death Benefits |
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| The surviving dependents of a deceased worker may receive workers' compensation death benefits if the worker's death arose out of and in the course of his employment. Death benefits provide weekly compensation to the dependents. In most states, the amount of total dependency benefits received is based on a percentage of the worker's average weekly wage. For partial dependency benefits, the amount received is commonly calculated as a portion of the dependent's support that was received from the worker. In addition to weekly compensation, death benefits also include a payment for the worker's burial expenses. The amount allotted for these expenses is set by the Workers' Compensation Act of each state and varies widely between the jurisdictions. More... |
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| Buy-In to Medicaid |
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| The Buy-in to Medicaid program is a form of work incentive that was initiated to provide Medicaid to disabled individuals who, because of the amount of their earned income, would not qualify for Medicaid. Individual states may, but are not required, to provide this incentive by creating a new eligibility group. Currently, just over half the states offer this program with many more planning to do so. Individuals "buy-in" to the program by paying a premium or other fee. However, participating states are not required to seek such payments. More... |
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