Workers Compensation
| Issue of "Time" in "By Accident" Concept |
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| Generally, for those jurisdictions adhering to the requirement of injury "by accident" for the injury to be compensable, there is an element of time. Basically, not only must the injury be "accidental" but also the causative event must be fairly identifiable as to time. It has been the general consensus among these jurisdictions that the time element is satisfied if either the event that caused the injury or the resulting injury itself was sudden. The time of the event that caused the injury is sufficiently definite if pinpointed to a span of several hours or days. As for the resulting injury, "suddenness" can include a gradual effect on the worker's body that ends with an injury that is clearly identifiable as to date. More... |
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| Farm Labor Exemption |
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| Several states exempt farm labor from operation of the state's workers' compensation statute. Though a farm employer may be exempt from compulsory workers' compensation participation, he is not precluded from voluntarily electing to do so. Once he does, the farmer is just like any other employer who can claim tort action protection pursuant to the workers' compensation exclusivity provision. More... |
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| Act of God and the Concept of "Arising Out of the Employment" |
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| An act of God includes natural occurrences over which man generally has no control such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and lightening. Though an employee is injured due to an act of God, he may still recover workers' compensation benefits if he can show that the nature of his employment placed him at a greater risk for injury due to such an act of God. For example, consider the repairman who is required to work on downed power lines during a storm. He performs his work while a thunderstorm rages by standing in a bucket raised high into the air from the back of his repair truck. This situation would appear to elevate the employee's chances of being struck by lightening over the average individual. As such, it is likely that the employee would be compensated for an injury by lightening. More... |
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| Workers' Compensation Terms |
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| Arising Out of and in the Course of Employment More... |
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| Dual-Purpose Travel by Employee |
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| "Dual-purpose" travel by an employee occurs when the employee embarks on a trip on behalf of the employer that coincides with travel for the employee's benefit. In other words, the journey serves both the business purpose of the employer and the personal purpose of the employee. Characterization of the trip as business, personal, or both does not have to be made at the outset of the trip. A trip can start out as purely personal but then transform into a business endeavor. More... |
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