According to the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), there are millions of slip and fall accidents that occur in the US every year and they are the leading cause of worksite accidents that result in a worker’s compensation claim.
As an employee, there are two different ways in which your injury claim might be handled:
- As a worker's compensation claim.
- As a claim under premises liability.
To understand which one applies, it’s essential that an injury lawyer review the case to properly determine which party is at fault and how the case needs to be handled.
What Is Premises Liability Insurance?
Premises liability coverage is a part of a commercial general liability policy carried by property owners to pay for another person's property or injuries that were incurred on their property.
It applies to anyone injured on their property if the property owner is found responsible for an injury or property damage that either happened on their property or from regular business operations.
Slip and fall injuries are the most common claim filed against Premises Liability Coverage.
Worker’s Compensation or Premises Liability?
Normally, an employee who sustains a work-related injury can file a claim against their employer’s worker’s compensation policy to cover associated expenses such as medical and rehab expenses as well as time lost from work.
Private employers do not have to carry workers comp insurance in Texas, which does not mean that employers are not responsible for their employees work-related injuries.
Statistics show that in Texas, 44% of the employers in Texas do not carry workers comp insurance and 40% of employers with 5 or less employees do not carry works comp while only 10% of employers with 1000 or more employees are non-subscribers, while 20% of all those employed in Texas work for non-subscribing employers.
Injury lawyers advise their clients who have sustained a work-related injury with a non-subscribing employer that their only recourse is to file a liability lawsuit against their employer.
Who Is the Negligent Party?
The first determination that must be made by an attorney handling any workplace injury case is which party was negligent, as what happens next depends on that.
The options might be your employer, if your injury was caused by their negligence, whether you were injured on their property or property owned by someone else or the owner of the property on which you were injured.
Faulty equipment provided by your employer could make them responsible; dangerous flooring not remedied by a separate property owner could make them the liable party.
Your premise liability claim must be filed against whichever party is responsible; even then, if it’s your employer, it must be determined whether the claim should be filed under worker's compensation, or as a premise liability claim, or even a negligence claim, which is slightly different.
Seek Legal Help When Interpreting Premise Liability Issues
As you can easily see, accident attorneys must consider many details when determining negligence after your slip and fall accident, and which party is responsible for an employee’s workplace injury.
Filing a claim to your employer’s worker's compensation policy is one option you have for recovering damages, but not every injury can or should be claimed to worker's compensation.
Some should be claimed to the business owner’s premise liability policy, whether that business happens to be your employer or just the owner of the property where you did work.
Rather than taking this decision on yourself, find a personal injury lawyer who can help you with your jobsite injury.