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Workers Compensation is the oldest form of social insurance in the United States
Workers Compensation is the oldest form of social insurance in the United States. Tennessee first enacted its first workers' compensation laws in 1919. Today every state provides workers compensation to covered employees who are injured during their employment.
When workers compensation was first proposed, a compromise was reached between business and labor. In order to encourage business to accept full responsibility for all work related injuries, the workers gave up the right to sue the employer for common law damages such as negligence suits.
This "trade off" actually benefits you the worker although the workers cannot recover actual lost wages, pain and suffering nor punitive damages. You the worker do not have to prove that your employer was negligent. You only have to prove that you were employed in the "course and scope" of your employment.
To prove the injury occurred in the "course and scope" of your employment is a much easier task than having to prove that your employer was negligent as you would have to prove in an automobile accident case.
As said above, traditional common law damages of pain and suffering, humiliation, loss of employment of life, actual lost wages nor punitive damages are recoverable. However again, you don't have to prove your employer did anything wrong. You only have to prove you were injured while at work.
If you can prove you were injured at work (It's normally not that hard to prove) then you may recover; (1) Immediate Medical Treatment, (2) Temporary Disability Benefits, (3) Permanent Disability Benefits and (4) Future Medical Treatment. (5) In the case of a work related death, benefits are paid to surviving family members.
These benefits are normally paid by your employer's workers' compensation insurance company. Most employers purchase workers compensation insurance to cover these benefits just as you or I purchase auto or homeowners insurance in case of an accident that might be our fault.
