However safe you feel at work, there is always the potential for an unexpected accident in which you could end up hospitalized or needing extensive medical treatment. Tennessee, like all other states, makes provision for these sorts of incidents by requiring many, although not all, employers to have workers’ compensation insurance. If you are injured or become ill at work, you should find out if your employer is covered and if this is the case, you may file a claim for workers’ comp. which can help to pay medical bills and wages you might otherwise lose by being unable to go back to work. Employment in Tennessee Nearly 3 million people are in employment of some type in the state of Tennessee. The median hourly wage in May 2016 when comprehensive data on employment was published by the Bureau of Labor was $20.36. Over 16% of all Tennessee employees work in some kind of office or in administrative support type occupations. This is the norm, it sees across every country in the U.S. 10% are employed in sales and related jobs, a little less in transportation and slightly fewer still in production and food preparation and serving. These five categories of employment alone account for half of all people in employment in the state. Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Coverage in Brief Not all Tennessee employers are required to take out workers’ compensation insurance. The exceptions include: Any employer except a construction company with less than 5 employees; State or federal governments. As with many other states, the Tennessee workers’ comp. arrangement is a no-fault system, so however you were injured or became ill, you should be covered as long as you are not in one of the above categories and your injury or illness genuinely happened at your workplace. Tennessee workers’ comp claims must be filed within a year from the injury or from when the illness was first discovered. In addition, you must notify your employer through your manager or supervisor within 30 days of the injury or illness first occurring. Workers’ Comp: More Details in Tennessee Because workers’ comp laws in Tennessee are no-fault, there is a corresponding component of the law which prevents you the employee, from filing any other sort of claim against your employer except for workers’ compensation. The exception to this is when you either discover your employer does not have insurance even though it is supposed to do according to the law or you are in a small business (less than 5 employees) where insurance is not mandatory. For example, you are employed on a construction site on a Nashville office block and fall from scaffolding. As you work for a large construction company, you should be covered by workers’ comp. However, you find out that your employer is actually not insured. This is probably illegal according to the law and it means that you may have to use a personal injury attorney to help process a separate claim for compensation. An Attorney Can Help You With Your Workers’ Comp Claim Workers’ comp. should be straightforward. Tennessee laws are written down in black and white and you ought to know where you stand after an injury or work related illness. However, making a claim may not be straightforward as the insurer may decide to deny the claim for some reason or offer a much lower payment than expected or is realistic considering the severity of the injury or illness. This is when an attorney can help you with your workers’ comp. claim.
