No Fault System

In every state, workers’ compensation is a benefit system designed to be “no fault,” meaning it is irrelevant whether your employer’s negligence (carelessness) contributed to your work-related injury or occupational disease. What matters is that you were involved in a workplace injury or suffered an occupational disease in the course of your employment. Additionally, in most circumstances, an employee’s own negligence will not prevent that employee from getting workers’ compensation benefits. (If you have questions about whether your behavior leading to your work-related injury might preclude your eligibility for a workers’ compensation claim, talk to a workers’ compensation attorney in your area.)

Serious injury is defined as “a personal injury which results in death; dismemberment ; significant disfigurement; a fracture; loss of a fetus; permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system; permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; significant limitation of use of a body function or system; or a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material.

The no-fault system was designed to protect both workers and employers. It was designed to protect employers from expensive and time-consuming lawsuits, and to protect employees by ensuring medical care and time off benefits.