When you get injured at work, you may be entitled to a Workers’ Comp claim. However, there are specific details about your employment status and how the injury happened that can complicate your ability to file.
Construction workers may face complex rules about their employment status. If you are an independent contractor, you might not have Workers’ Comp to file with; however, employees should be covered. Your accident also has to be work-related. The process of filing is simple to start with, but it gets complicated quickly, so you should always work with a lawyer.
Call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945 for a free review of your potential case.
Can Construction Workers File for Workers’ Comp?
If you work for a construction company as an employee, and you were injured in the course of your work, you should qualify for Workers’ Comp coverage. However, there are three issues that could hold up your right to file.
Employment Status of Contractors
Many construction workers call themselves “contractors,” implying they are legally considered “independent contractors.” Independent contractors are essentially self-employed and may work under a company name (e.g., with “LLC” at the end), control their own workflow and methods, and take jobs instead of ongoing daily work.
If you are an independent contractor, you likely have no “employer” construction company to file a Workers’ Comp claim with. This right is only there for “employees,” who typically have their work and hours controlled by their employer directly.
It is also confusing to determine whether you are subcontractor (often considered an independent contractor) or an employee of a contractor (often considered an employee).
Work-Related Accidents
If your accident happened in the course of your work, then it should be covered. This doesn’t include commutes in many cases, but that can be complicated by commutes between job sites rather than commutes to and from your home.
It can also be hard to separate injuries that happen over time from repetitive stress or repetitive strain as “work-related” or unrelated, especially if you work for multiple employers or do personal jobs on your off time.
Coverage is only available for work-related injuries.
Construction Company Breaking the Rules
Construction is an industry with frequent rule violations, whether that be rules about payroll and taxes, employee safety, or Workers’ Compensation insurance. If your employer was paying you under the table or failed to carry Workers’ Comp insurance to cover you, you need a Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp lawyer to help with your case.
None of these things stop you from filing, but they make the case harder. If your employer doesn’t have insurance, you may also need to file with the state’s Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund (UEGF) for coverage, which comes with additional rules.
Can Injured Construction Workers Sue?
Many construction accidents are caused by outside parties, such as manufacturers of defective safety gear or power tools, or outside contractors, suppliers, etc. Your employer’s Workers’ Compensation should cover you regardless of the cause of an accident – even if you caused your own accident. But you may also be entitled to sue.
You cannot sue your employer for a work-related injury, but you can sue outside parties. This can result in more compensation – e.g., for pain and suffering – even on top of the Workers’ Comp amounts.
How to File for Workers’ Comp
When you are injured, seek immediate medical care, then call a lawyer. We can help you report your injury and start your claim.
Reporting/Filing
Claims are started by reporting your injury to your employer. They then file with their insurance carrier to get you benefits. However, the employer or insurance carrier can deny the claim if they believe you are not an employee, the injury was not work-related, or it is not disabling.
Filing in Court
If the claim is denied, you can file a Claim Petition with the Department of Labor and Industry’s Office of Adjudication. The case will then be assigned to a Workers’ Comp Judge who can accept evidence, analyze it, and decide whether your benefits should be granted.
Evidence and Medical Care
In the meantime, you have to keep getting medical care and following through with doctor’s appointments. You also have to be careful to use approved doctors in the first 90 days, or else the care is not covered.
Both sides also have to collect evidence, which means depositions and medical appointments, both with doctors we choose and doctors your employer chooses. This evidence is then presented to the WCJ as part of the Workers’ Comp hearing.
Decisions and Settlement
If the case goes your way, the WCJ will grant your benefits. These would be ongoing payments, covering medical care as it comes up and wage-loss benefits as you continue to be away from full-time work.
Cases can also be settled, potentially paying a lump sum or structured settlement.
FAQs for Workers’ Comp Claims Against Construction Firms
Are Construction Workers Covered?
Most construction workers who are properly classified as “employees” should be covered under Workers’ Comp for work-related injuries. However, independent contractors usually aren’t covered.
Are “Contractors” Considered “Independent Contractors”?
Your job title of “contractor” and the fact that you are paid with a 1099 aren’t necessarily enough proof that you are definitively an “independent contractor.” Many construction firms call their workers “contractors” to avoid paying benefits, but control them as employees anyway.
Employers cannot have it both ways. If they treat the worker as an employee, and the “contractor” is doing the same type of work as the employer (i.e., construction, not a specialized field like plumbing or electrical work), then the worker may legally be an “employee.”
Are Subcontractors Employees or Contractors?
It is always a fact-sensitive question, but subcontractors may be independent contractors if they are hired to do a specialized, one-off job for a firm or general contractor.
Are Other Workers Covered?
Construction companies hire more than just construction workers. Architects, secretaries, payroll staff, and foremen/managers may also be employees entitled to benefits if they suffer a work-related accident.
This can cover anything from accidents at the construction site to repetitive stress from typing or even a slippery floor at the office that causes a slip and fall.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today
For help filing a Work Comp claim against a construction company, call the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.
