No Pain and Suffering—The Strange World of Workers’ Comp

The Grand Bargain; The Great Compromise; or, as some call it, the crappy deal: worker’s compensation as a system. 

Workers’ compensation developed in modern American legislation shortly after the Industrial Revolution when American workers began to cry out for more protection. The origin of the push began with writings by impassioned authors in 1906: Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, for example, detailed horrors seen by immigrant workers in the Chicago slaughterhouses. 

However, it’s not a new concept. Work comp has been around since 1750 BC in the Hammurabi Code.

Work comp trades out the negligence of employers and the lack of rights by workers to sue their employers for injuries and hazards in the workplace. Workers’ compensation, often referred to as work comp or workers’ comp, is more a form of insurance that provides wage replacement and medical benefits to employees who are injured or become ill as a result of their job. 

It is designed to protect both employees and employers by providing a no-fault system. This means that employees do not have to prove that their employer was at fault for their injury or illness to receive benefits.

Worker’s compensation provides for wage loss, medical treatment, and permanency of impairment. However, what is notably missing, and the sizable monetary portion well known to other claims, is pain and suffering.

This is known as the “exclusive remedy” provision. The reason for this limitation is to create a streamlined and efficient system for compensating injured workers. By eliminating the need for lengthy and costly legal battles over fault and negligence, the workers’ compensation system aims to provide quicker and more certain benefits.

Suppose the work injury was caused by a third party (someone other than their employer or a co-worker). In that case, they may have the option to pursue a personal injury lawsuit against that third party, which then could include compensation for pain and suffering.

Let Finderson Law help with your workers’ compensation claim

Curious about your worker’s compensation claim? Finderson Law LLC offers free consultations to discuss your case. Give our firm a call at (260) 420-8600, use the chat box on our website, or text us using the website link! 

We are always here to help bring our clients comfort, hope and ease regarding the complications of the law. As Attorney Roger Finderson is now licensed in Florida, we are happy to help Floridians alongside our Hoosiers in every way.