Articles Tagged with Florida workers’ compensation exemption attorney

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A very common occurrence that we assist people with in our practice is what to do when they are involved in a motor vehicle accident while working. Specifically, situations where the accident didn’t happen while going to and coming from work or at lunchtime, but it actually occurred while on the clock and while performing work duties. In these situations, the injured party has a choice between potential sources of recovery. If their employer has Workers’ Compensation insurance then they will likely be required to at least have an initial consultation with a Workers’ Compensation doctor to assess the extent of the injuries. In addition, most employers in the State of Florida require an initial drug test urine screen in order to establish the claim

A common misconception that occurs in these situations is that the injured party is under the impression that they are required and only have the option to treat under their Workers’ Compensation insurance. However, this is not the case if the injured party is not at fault in the crash and the at-fault party has Bodily Injury insurance coverage. In these situations, in addition to the potential workers’ compensation benefits available, the injured party can also make a claim against the at-fault party’s Bodily Injury insurance. This would provide the injured party two potential sources of recovery for their damages.

In addition the above sources of recovery, an injured party may have yet another avenue to recover for their losses. If the injured party, or the vehicle that they were in when the crash occurred, had Uninsured or Under-insured motorist coverage in their policy this may provide an additional remedy. This coverage would apply if the at-fault party did not have Bodily coverage on their car insurance or if their coverage was not enough to fully compensate the injured party for the full extent of their damages from the crash.

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Many employees lost their jobs due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic and economic fallout. Many others became “remote” employees overnight. However, there is a large subset of individuals who are still continuing to work at physical locations. Initially, this was limited to “essential” workers, however, at present a large percentage of the labor pool is working at a

physical job site on a daily basis. This creates a lot of concerns for employers in the State of Florida, but also, places enormous pressure on the entire work force. Concerns over health and economics and attempting to balance these two essential tenets, can be a high-stress, anxiety-provoking matter.

Florida issued emergency legislation on federal, state and local levels to increase paid and unpaid sick leave and unemployment insurance benefits for COVID-19-related absences. The true gray area that exists is with regards to employees who contract COVID-19 while working – especially now that the work “place” is a fluid term.

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Florida construction workers are either business owners or employees, and most all are required to secure workers’ compensation, which covers benefits for job-related employee injuries. Up to three officers in a single business corporation can obtain a Florida workers’ compensation exemption. However, it’s not allowed for construction businesses that are simply looking to for a way around paying workers’ compensation insurance premiums. More often than not, that’s the case, though our Miami workers’ compensation attorneys have found in these cases, it’s more likely the employer failed to file for a Florida workers’ compensation exemption at all. 

Furthermore, even when a company files for Florida workers’ compensation exemption, it does not exempt them from liability under the state’s workers’ comp laws. First of all, as noted by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the state requires all employer/ businesses to purchase workers’ compensation coverage with very few exceptions and stipulates workers’ compensation is the sole remedy for employees who have suffered a work-related injury. In turn, these businesses become immune from most injury lawsuits employees might otherwise be entitled to bring. Workers’ compensation covers benefits like medical expenses, disability and death.

Although the law requires most non-construction industry businesses to secure workers’ compensation if they have four or more employees – including those who work part-time. In the construction industry, you must secure workers’ compensation insurance if you have one or more employees. As our Miami workers’ compensation attorneys can explain, this is due to the fact construction work is well-established to be incredibly risky, and on-the-job injuries tend to be more common than in other professions. The likelihood one will need to claim workers’ compensation is higher. Continue reading →

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