Workers compensation insurance is designed to help employees if they’re ever hurt while on the job. A policy will often cover medical bills and income lost due to a covered claim (exact coverages vary). What precisely counts as a covered claim is determined by each policy’s terms and conditions, but it often includes more than simple injuries. If you own a business in Bradford, Vermont, your company’s workers compensation policy may well cover these three potential scenarios

Your Bradford Business’ Workers Compensation Insurance Might Cover These 3 Reasons for Absence

1. An Employee is Hurt on the Job

Being hurt on the job is one of the most basic coverages included in almost all workers compensation policies. The amount of coverage that policies provide varies greatly, and some have terms that limit what kinds of injuries they cover. Some examples of injuries that your policy might cover are if an employee:

• Slips and falls while working

• Injures themselves with a power tool at your company’s location in Bradford

• Suffers a repetitive motion injury related to work

Many jobs expose employees to at least some of these kinds of injuries. Anyone can slip and fall, and lots of occupations require doing the same motion time and again -- especially now that many people spend a lot of their day typing on a computer.

2. An Employee is Hurt While Working

Some workers compensation policies also cover injuries that employees sustain while they’re working, even if their injury isn’t actually related to their job. For instance, if an employee sprains their ankle while walking to the breakroom, their injury might be covered by your company’s workers compensation policy. Despite the injury having nothing to do with their actual job, the employee may still have a valid claim.

If an employee is injured in something that neither the employee nor your business has any control over, your company’s workers compensation insurance may still cover the incident. A few policies extend coverage to workplace violence and even terrorist attacks -- which is completely out of your control.

3. An Employee Who Gets Sick

In addition to covering work-related injuries, many workers compensation policies also cover work-related illnesses. If an employee becomes sick and the illness is caused by work, it may be covered by your company's workers compensation. This coverage generally doesn’t apply to the spreading of the common cold from one co-worker to another, but it could help an employee who got food poisoning at a work-sponsored event or had an allergic reaction to a material in your company’s facility.

Check Your Bradford, VT Company’s Workers Compensation Insurance

While these scenarios are often covered by workers compensation insurance policies, you should check to see what coverages your business’ specific policy provides. If you contact an independent insurance agent in Bradford, they’ll likely be willing to review your company’s policy with you -- often even if you didn’t initially get the policy through them. Going through your company’s policy with an agent would help you clarify your company’s coverages, and it may help an employee file a claim if anyone in your company ever suffers a work-related injury or illness.

This material is for informational purposes only. All statements herein are subject to the provision, exclusions, and conditions of the applicable policy. For an actual description of all coverages, terms, and conditions, refer to the insurance policy.