You didn’t intend to get hurt at work, of course, but you recognize that it was your own error that led to the accident. Maybe you were told to use a handcart to move something heavy, for instance, but you thought it would be quicker to just pick it up. As you did, you threw out your back, and now you can barely get off of the couch.
Naturally, this has caused some serious issues for you, including medical bills, medication costs and lost wages. You’re not even sure when you’ll be able to get back to work, and you don’t know how you’ll make ends meet.
You do think that workers’ compensation would help since you did get hurt at work, but you don’t think you’re eligible because the injury was clearly your fault. It was witnessed by numerous people and documented as something that you did to yourself. Is this true?
Workers’ comp is actually a no-fault system
There’s good news: That’s not how workers’ comp laws work. They are no-fault laws. It does not matter who caused the injury. If you were doing your job and made a simple mistake resulting in your own injury, that’s still a workplace injury and a hazard of the job. You can still seek benefits while you’re out.
There are some cases where your employer may contend that you don’t deserve compensation. An example would be if you used illegal drugs and then got injured. But, generally speaking, fault plays no role and you can still get compensation. This shows how important it is to know exactly what rights you have at such a critical time.