Worker’s Compensation Insurance

California worker's compensation coveragebegan in the 20th century when the number of workplace injuries was rising and there was little effective legislation to insure fair reparation to employees or to shield companies from expensive lawsuits. As a result, California worker compensation coverage was initiated in many states with California being one of the first to adopt such a system.

California's first workers' compensation law was established under the Compensation Act in 1911. A compulsory system was established two years later as the Workers' Compensation, Insurance and Safety Act of 1913, which required employers to provide benefits for all employees on the job and generally prohibited employees from suing their employers over their injuries. The Act blocked employees from recovering money for pain and suffering and seeking punitive damages. It also called for the establishment of a competitive state insurance fund. It remains the foundation for workers' compensation in California today.

Workers' Compensation laws are designed to ensure employees injured and/or disabled on the job are provided for with fixed monetary awards, thereby eliminating the need for litigation. Workers' Compensation laws also provide benefits for dependents of workers killed because of work-related accidents or illnesses. Laws also protect employers and fellow workers by limiting the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer and by eliminating the liability of co-workers in most accidents. State Workers Compensation statutes establish this framework for most employment. Federal statutes are limited to federal employees or those workers employed in some significant aspect of interstate commerce. Contact Kelly Williams Insurance for California worker's compensation coverage.