Austin Personal Injury Attorney – Opting Out of Workers’ Compensation Benefits Employers, Not Workers

Opting out of the Texas workers compensation system saves employers
money over time, but there is a caveat to that observation. The rising
number of significant jury awards may signal a change to come.

Opting out of the Texas workers compensation system, otherwise
referred to as non-subscription, is still appealing to many employers,
as it saves companies a lot of money. “But in reality, it may not save a
company money if an attorney wins an injury case against them,” said
workplace injury attorney, Brooks Schuelke, of Perlmutter &
Schuelke, PLLC in Austin. “There is a very fine line involved between
ostensibly saving money by not subscribing to workers’ compensation and
having to possibly pay out large sums in a court case or numerous
cases.”

How did Texas come to have a workers compensation system that allowed
companies to not participate? The answer is over 100 years old. The
system began by allowing employers to opt out, meaning they were and
still are not required to provide benefits to injured workers. This lack
of protection for employers leaves them open to liability lawsuits
filed by injured workers not covered by workers compensation.

Today, if a company chooses to carry workers’ compensation insurance,
then an injured worker is generally limited to only making claims for
the workers’ compensation benefits and can’t sue the employer except in
limited circumstances.

On the other hand, if an employer chooses to be a non-subscriber and
doesn’t buy insurance, then the injured employee is free to sue the
employer. Additionally, the employer is not allowed to present some
defenses that are applicable in most cases.

Keith Rosenblum, senior workers compensation risk control strategist
at Lockton Cos. L.L.C. in Kansas City, Missouri, says that if a company
does opt out, it needs to offer fast and effective medical care and top
notch safety programs. Without those things in place, a company
potentially faces liability for injuries sustained by workers.

There are some employers in Texas that do offer some support to
injured workers. They are few and far between and in the meantime, there
have been a number of significant lawsuits resolved in favor of
workers.

One case against Katy Spring & Manufacturing Inc. resulted in a
$780,000 verdict with the jury finding the employer negligent when a
worker was hit in the chest by a large-gauge wire.

Other cases, such as the one involving West Star Transportation Inc.,
resulted in a $5.3 million judgment in 2015, for not providing a safe
workplace. In that case, a worker sustained traumatic brain injury after
falling.

Consider also the case involving a former dockworker for Tyson Foods
who sustained a serious lower back injury in 2013 while sorting heavy
boxes. The jury handed down a $2.25 million award, citing Tyson Foods
for negligence.

According to Bill Minick, president of Dallas-based PartnerSource,
there were approximately 100 Lone Star non-subscribers slapped with
negligence liability awards/settlements of $1 million or more in the
last quarter century.

“And still, many companies opt to not subscribe in the hopes of
saving money. Do these same companies offer some form of protection to
their workers? Some do. Some do not. If you have been injured while on
the job, contact an experienced workplace injury attorney and find out
what your legal rights are,” said Schuelke.

Learn more at http://www.civtrial.com

Perlmutter & Schuelke, PLLC
206 East 9th Street, Ste. 1511
Austin, TX 78701
Call (512) 476-4944