When you own a business, you want to ensure that you are doing everything possible to protect it. Most businesses realize that there are a lot of threats to businessesout there. Customers can sue companies for anything from being injured by a product or being mistreated while in the store. Larger companies can pose a threat to smaller companies by taking their customers away, decreasing sales and ultimately leading to going out of business. Even Mother Nature can pose a threat to businesses, with natural disasters causing businesses to close, whether temporarily or permanently.

Although most businesses think of threats coming from the outside, it’s also important to think about the threats that can come from the inside. Employees can also pose a threat to businesses, which is why it’s important for businesses to protect themselves from harm. One of the biggest ways that employees can threaten a business is by becoming injured while on the job. Not only does this mean that you’re now down an employee, which can impact production, but you’re also at risk of being sued. That is, unless you have workers’ compensation plans in place.

How does workers’ compensation work?

Workers’ compensation is basically an insurance policy you take out to cover the cost of injuries that occur to employees while on the job. Depending on the plan, this policy will usually cover the cost of the employee’s medical bills as well as a percentage of their pay for any time off of work resulting from the injury. In some instances, this may only need to cover an injury for a short amount of time. For example, if an employee breaks their leg as a result of a work-related incident, workers’ compensation will only provide coverage until they can come back to work.

In other cases, though, some injuries may be career ending. For example, an employee who suffers a head injury as the result of a work-related incident may not be medically cleared to go back to work. In these instances, your workers’ compensation insurance will typically provide coverage for this individual for the rest of their life, or until a certain age is reached.

Why should I provide workers’ compensation?

Some companies opt to forgo the workers compensation coverage due to the high cost, but it’s not something you should easily dismiss. Although you may think the cost is high, it’s nothing compared to the money you’d spend and the negative media coverage you’d experience if you don’t have it and an employee became injured while on the job. For example, if you don’t have workers’ compensation and an employee becomes injured on the job, you run the risk of a personal injury suit being filed by their personal injury lawyer, and this case can become public knowledge. Being called out for mistreating your employees can be a PR nightmare, and it could also cost you a fortune in legal fees, and your company may suffer tremendously because of it.

When you have workers’ compensation, you’re protecting yourself from harm. Although you hope to never use it, having this insurance policy will ensure you’re prepared in case the worse does happen. Since your employee’s medical care will be covered and a percentage of their pay will still be paid, it eliminates the employee’s need to sue you, which keeps the incident in house and far away from public scrutiny.