Construction Industry Workers’ Compensation Law Explained
Constant exposure to potential physical danger is unfortunately common in the construction industry as workers are called upon to work with heavy or dangerous equipment, handle potentially dangerous chemicals, or do physical labor high above the ground.
The dangers are everywhere, and while your employer may offer workers’ compensation benefits, this doesn’t always mean that your rights and interests are as protected as they should be.
There are many prevailing misconceptions about the process and complexity of how workers’ compensation actually works, and how it commonly plays out with construction-related accidents. We’d all like to believe that employers and workers’ comp insurers will always do the right thing, but it is important to remember that the employers and insurers are there to protect each other’s interests—not yours. To be sure that you receive fair and appropriate treatment, contact one of the attorneys at our Law Office for a free consultation and we can advise you of your rights and responsibilities, as well as help you determine if there are legal remedies that can help you get the compensation you need.
Why Would Your Employer Try to Deceive You or Omit Important Details in the Course of Helping You With Your Workers’ Compensation Claim?
In some circumstances, pure ignorance can cause an employer to fail to provide an injured worker with the proper resources to receive care under Workers’ Comp. The claim process is paperwork intensive and riddled with fine print and many construction managers simply do not have the time or the detailed orientation to devote to fully understanding the process.
In other cases, your company may intentionally be vague about Workers’ Compensation because they have no workers’ comp policy, and while it isn’t illegal for a construction company not to have Workers’ Comp Insurance, having it shields them from personal injury lawsuits so they may mislead you to believe that they are covered when in fact, they are not.
Finding the answer to this question is critical to determining how much compensation you may be able to receive, and if your employer does not carry the insurance, then there are more legal remedies you can pursue than if your employer subscribes to workers’ comp insurance because the laws say that carrying the workers’ comp coverage allows employers a certain immunity to workplace injury lawsuits.
Thus, many employers may try to take care of the expenses and lost wages as would be covered by workers’ comp to give the illusion of having workers comp insurance in hopes they can avoid getting sued. If you have questions about the validity of your employer’s workers’ compensation benefits, call us today.
Our firm has assisted countless construction workers who thought that they had a subscriber case when in fact they were dealing with a non-subscriber. As mentioned before, construction work is dangerous. Because of the risks, workers’ compensation is very expensive for construction companies. Therefore, they often choose not to subscribe. But when a worker is hurt, they may pretend to have workers’ compensation insurance in order to avoid a lawsuit. An experienced workers’ comp claim lawyer, however, can help you dig through any construction company tricks and determine precisely what options are available to you.
With over 20 years of experience in personal injury construction worker cases, the attorneys at our Law Office are poised and ready to investigate and ensure that you are not bamboozled by devious employers and you receive the full benefits you deserve.
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Are You a Contractor or an Employee?
Because Texas law says only general employees are eligible to file construction work injury suits or workers’ comp claim, many employers in the construction industry believe that by having workers sign waivers that state they are contractors renders them immune to personal/workplace injury lawsuit.
However, the State of Texas has case laws that have been established that protect workers from falling into this trap by instituting standard criteria by which the existence of an employer-employee relationship is established regardless of whether you are listed by the company as a contractor or otherwise. These standard criteria evolved out of a volume of related cases in which similar determinations were made by the courts.
Based on Texas case law, an employer-employee relationship may be proven if:
The contract states the worker is an employee
The worker is working exclusively for that company
The employer provides the tools or materials the worker uses to complete the work
The employer manages the worker at various points throughout the project
The amount of time the employer is expected to continue working for the employee is not specified
If the worker is paid by the hour rather than by the project
The borrowing employer can hire or fire the employee
The borrowing employer requested to use a specific employee
The borrowing employer provides the tools and materials necessary for the worker to complete his or her job
The lending employer cannot interchange the borrowed employee with any other worker
The borrowed worker is used to fill a position that almost anyone could fill
The borrowing employer pays the worker’s taxes and social security
These very technical details along with your employer’s status as a subscriber are critical in determining what benefits you are eligible to receive and whether you have been receiving them fairly.
To ensure that you are not cheated out of the economic relief and potential damages you deserve, make sure that you absolutely DO NOT accept any offer of payment from the construction company. DO NOT sign any documents without having them reviewed by an attorney. DO NOT make or write out any statements detailing the incident.
Our Law Office has been handling construction accident injury cases in and around Texas for more than 20 years, and we are here to help you understand your rights and responsibilities so that you can get the best legal remedy you deserve.
If you think that you may be ineligible to recover benefits because you were a contractor, our construction law experts can review the criteria of your employment with the construction company and determine if you are actually still eligible for legal treatment as a general employee by meeting the credentials established in Texas state law.
Why should I choose your Law Office to help me with my case?
We have been helping injured parties with both subscriber and non-subscriber cases all over the state of Texas for more than 20 years.
Our experienced lawyers can efficiently determine which kind of case you have and what potentially liable parties you should pursue to get the best possible outcome.
We have won cases against almost every major insurance provider in the United States and have a proven track record that encourages many defendants to make generous out of court settlements, which saves you time and money. Our dedicated attorneys care about you and will do everything possible to get you through the process as quickly and painlessly as possible. We will fight to ensure you get the compensation you need to get back on your feet and help ensure that the punitive remedies in your case encourage the construction company to be less negligent and understand that safeguarding their employees is of the utmost importance if they wish to remain in business.
Call us today for a free consultation.
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There are 125,000 cranes being used in America right now. We use them for transporting heavy objects and supplies to that we can have our skyscrapers, stadiums, and churches. Any complication that may arise will make operating the crane dangerous for its driver, the co-workers at the site, and any bystanders below the crane.
People can be easily killed if the crane loses its payload or if the line snaps. Buildings can be crushed if a crane falls or hits other structures. An operator can be electrocuted if a crane strikes a power line. That accident can be easily avoidable if the employer purchased a non-conductive hook and had it installed onto the crane. But, here are some other types of crane injuries and deaths that are unavoidable: Electrical shock, dismemberment, burns, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain trauma.
Who was responsible if you have become a crane accident victim? There are numerous parties that are responsible. If your employer failed to provide a safe working environment to you, under a workers’ compensation claim, they will be held accountable. But what if another party’s negligence caused the accident? A property owner may have had equipment that would have blocked the path of the crane, causing the accident. If negligence was the cause of the accident, you can file a lawsuit. The crane accident attorneys of our Law Office have been litigating lawsuit claims for twenty years. We can help you with your case.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have the following guidelines on the use of cranes on construction sites:
Regarding the operation of the crane, employers have to obey all manufacturer limitations and instructions.
Instructions about the crane’s load capacity and safety warnings must be visible to the crane operator.
The crane has been inspected by a safety inspector prior to operation. If there is anything broken or defective, it must be replaced immediately.
The employer’s responsibility is ensuring the crane is placed away from overhead power lines. If a crane must be operated near a power line, then the employer must ensure the power line is shut down.
If an employer fails to comply with OSHA rules and guidelines on the use of cranes resulting in your injury, you have the right to file a lawsuit. However, depending on whether or not your employer has purchased worker’s compensation will depend on the amount of compensation that you could demand. A Texas employer who buys workers’ comp is called a subscriber. A Texas employer who doesn’t buy workers’ comp is called a non-subscriber.
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The state of Texas doesn’t require all employers to have worker’s compensation. But having workers’ comp is very expensive, so a lot of employers chose to turn it down. If an employee does get injured, an employer is willing to lie about having workers’ compensation in order to avoid a lawsuit. You can’t believe what an employer tells you. You need an experienced crane accident attorney in order to find out what the truth really is.
The real reason employers buy workmen’s compensation is because they are looking for protection from lawsuits. If you’ve been injured on the job or a loved one’s been killed on the job, you can’t sue your employer. The only way to sue a subscriber employer would be if the employee committed gross negligence. But it does not mean that this will end there. The insurance provider will be more than happy to provide for the injured and or family members of the deceased. They’ll pay for the medical bills and lost wages without a hassle. They’ll do all of that because they’re here to help their business. It only looks as though they’re helping you.
Every year, they’ve denied claims to countless employees. Insurance companies of non-subscriber employees will do anything to avoid providing compensation to injured employees. Workers’ compensation is needed in order to decrease lawsuits for injuries or accidental deaths in the workplace, but sometimes a lawsuit is the only way to get justice. It’s important that you have an experienced crane accident attorney on your side to take on the insurance companies.
The insurance companies will have a team of attorneys on their side. They’ll either try to convince you or force you into taking a poor settlement offer that couldn’t be enough to get you back on your feet. The attorneys at our Law Office will not only access your damages, we’ll determine if the insurance company is not being honest.
There are ways in which a victim can seek compensation from their subscriber employer or any third party:
If the gross negligence of the employer-led to the death of your loved one, then you can file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Someone else’s negligence, besides the employer, may have led to your injury suffered in a crane accident. The property owner didn’t provide safe working conditions. Manufacturers may be liable for malfunctioning machinery. The operator may not have operated the crane properly. Another contractor or employee could have negligently caused the injury. In this case, you can sue the responsible party.
It takes experience to identify all parties responsible and make them accountable for the injuries they have inflicted. If a worker suffers an injury due to the negligence of a subscriber employer and a negligent third party, the injured worker may seek compensation for both a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury lawsuit.
Employers avoid buying workers’ compensation insurance because, in the construction business, insurance costs can be expensive. These employers are called non-subscribers. And when taking on a non-subscriber, you will need an attorney that will ensure that you get adequate compensation.
The Texas Government implemented workers’ compensation laws so that subscribers could be protected from lawsuits. Since you’re pursuing a lawsuit against a non-subscriber, you can look forward to greater compensation for your injuries or damages. You only need to prove standard negligence.
In a non-subscriber case, the law can be very complex. You would need an experienced crane accident attorney that can help you through this process.
The plaintiff will file a claim against the defendant that will inform them of the injury and the amount of compensation needed for damages. The easy way would be for the defendant to pay or negotiate with the plaintiff about the settlement. However, the defendant will contest the settlement and the parties will go to court. The plaintiff will have the burden of proving that the defendant was responsible for the injury leading up to medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Luckily, the plaintiff has to establish standard proof of negligence.
At this point, the non-subscriber employers will use some clever maneuvering to avoid paying you anything in court. Here are some examples:
A defense that the employer will use to their advantage is called sole proximate cause. They will claim that the plaintiff is 100 percent responsible for their own injuries. The defense lawyers are willing to destroy your name and credibility so that you will look like the negligent employee that was responsible for the accident.
The employer avoided paying for workers’ compensation, but they are willing to pay for the best attorneys that money can buy. Dragging an injured victim through the mud is a small price to pay for the employer who doesn’t want to take responsibility. You need an attorney with the expertise and the skills to defend your rights.
Do you know why many construction companies hire their employees as contractors? There is no obligation of safety for contractors. Your employer will deny that an employer-employee relationship exists between you two. How can they pay for your injuries, if there’s no evidence that states that you have been employed by them?
In some cases, the employer knows that an employer-employee relationship exists with the victim and they were able to secure compensation. The law sees you as an employee and you are entitled to compensation for injuries suffered on the job.
You need a crane accident attorney who can establish the employer-employee relationship between parties, if they meet the following standards:
Social security and taxes were withheld by the employer
The employer-provided equipment on the job
The employer-provided a set schedule
You were managed, trained, and inspected by the employer daily
Documents that prove that you had to perform tasks in order to work for the employer: such as taking a drug test
You were hired for an undetermined period of time
You were was being paid on an hourly or salary wage
Our crane accident attorneys have the experience handling on the job injuries. We can help you identify all of the parties responsible for your accident and make them pay for all of the damages.
For twenty years, the lawyers of our Law Office have helped injured construction workers recover millions in damages. We can handle any crane accident case, including those with many defendants. We know the OSHA regulations and can provide expert witnesses who can testify about the issues of workplace safety and operating heavy machinery. Call us today for a free consultation.
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