6 April, 2021
Employees are often injured on the job. When this happens, workers' compensation laws require employers to provide benefits for the employees to recover from injuries.
Because many states require employers to carry workers' compensation insurance, workers who are injured on the job in these states are often eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits, including payments for medical treatment and a portion of their lost wages.
When faced with what Asia could learn, the answer could be for their workers to feel more confident in initiating claims.
We will discuss this further in the article.
However, before we get into any comparison between the East and the West, it is worth going over precisely what workers' compensation is from a Western point of view.
What Is Workers Compensation?
Worker's compensation is a system in which employees who are injured or fall ill due to their work are entitled by law to certain benefits from their employers.
This is intended to ensure that workers are provided with the financial security to maintain their standard of living after being injured and unable to work.
Their employers offer employees and their families workers compensation insurance if they suffer workplace illnesses or injuries.
If you're injured on the job or get sick from being around dangerous chemicals, you're entitled to Workers Compensation.
When you get hurt at work, doctors can't just charge you for treatment and send you on your way.
The program covers a portion of your lost wages during the period when you are unable to work, along with many health-care costs related to your injury.
Essentially workers' compensation is a type of insurance providing medical coverage and wage replacement to workers injured on the job in exchange for the mandatory surrender of the worker's right to file the worker's compensation claim.
A safe and healthy working environment must be ensured as part of its obligation under the law.
It differs from other forms of worker's compensation in that the insurer is not usually a party to the injury.
However, the insurer has the burden of proving that it will pay benefits, regardless of who may be responsible for an employee's injuries.
How Does It Work In Action?
Employees may be eligible for workers' compensation coverage if they are injured on the job.
In doing so, an injured employee must first advise them of his rights under the Workers' Compensation Act.
Under the Act, they must seek medical attention as soon as possible.
The employee must file the accident report with the state's workers' compensation board within 45 days of the date of injury.
The employer also needs to submit a verified list of all employees involved in an accident within three years before filing the claim.
Filing a claim requires that the injured person show that the employer was responsible for the injury.
This can only be established by providing a doctor's written statement that the injury is not permanent and cannot be prevented in the future.
Once this is done, the claimant may proceed with the claim. If no physician's statement is provided, then the court may ask the employer to attend the session or personally supervise it, or both.
They may also choose to file a request for a supervised review with the State Workers' Compensation Board.
Once the review is completed, the board may reach a final decision. If the employer disagrees with the claimant's claim, then they must file a written denial stating the reasons for denying the request.
At this point, the worker will need to wait for the appeal process to begin. However, if the appeal is denied, the worker will have to wait until hearing the subsequent request.
After this happens, the benefits will be paid to the claimant.
To understand workers' compensation, it helps to know what would be expected of an employee if they were hurt on the job.
According to the law, an injured employee must be given timely notice of the potential claim.
It also requires that the employee be given a reasonable amount of time to heal from the injury.
This requirement is stricter than that of a sick or vacationer's minimum period of notice requirement.
Workers' compensation also means that if an employee files a claim, the company must compensate him/her for any lost wages and medical costs.
If the employer is unwilling to cover these costs, the employee may choose to file a suit against the business.
The workers' compensation law requires that the injured person must be able to prove that the company was aware of the hazard or that it should have known that the danger existed but did not take any action to protect him/her.
Additionally, the claim must state that the employer was negligent in causing the loss suffered.
Many times workers' compensation also requires that the claim be sent to a personal injury attorney.
A personal injury attorney will be able to better explain to the claimant what is required to receive benefits. He will also provide information about what other types of claims are available in local courts.
Another good reason to use a lawyer is that workers' compensation claims are generally much more likely to be resolved in favor of the claimant if brought to a lawyer's attention.
This article's question is somewhat difficult to answer satisfactorily because each country in the West has differing workers' compensation versions.
For example, some countries will hold the employee to a greater account while others will benefit from the doubt and pressure the employer.
We could discuss the differences between the US and Europe as both are classed as the West, but both blocs have wildly different views on worker's compensation.
You can compare worker's compensation laws in the UK and the other European countries with those in the US.
They, too, are based on the 'ords' given by the government, and this is one reason why the system here works efficiently.
The employers have to inform about all the details related to the employment.
They must give the date of birth of all workers that have been affected by accidents at work.
If the employer fails to do so, he will be held guilty and liable for the compensation claim.
Workers Compensation in Asia
In this example, it is also different to discuss workers' compensation in Asia as this carries an even more ambiguous meaning than that of the West.
For example, Japan, Singapore, and Korea will have far more protections than China, India or Bangladesh.
However, there is an overarching idea that Asian societies hold different values to those of Western societies.
East Asian societies, in general, are somewhat influenced by Confucious thought, which holds the collective to be more important than the individual, and Western cultures tend to favor a point of view that tends to favor individualism over the collective.
When you factor in these fundamental differences and conclude the differences in compensation for workers, it may become apparent that workers in Asian countries may be more reluctant to initiate a claim when compared with their Western counterparts.
Summary
There are many things that the West could learn from Asia with regards to working attitude, but with regards to workers compensation, it seems that Asian employees could learn to be more assertive of their rights to claim when they are injured on the job.
