TUCKER LAW - Expert Iowa Attorneys
  • Home
  • Workers Compensation
    • Brain Injury
    • Disability and Death
    • Manufacturing Injury
    • Neck and Back Injury
    • On the Job Injury
    • Repetitive Motion Injury
    • Temporary Disabilty Benefits
    • Temporary Workers' Claims
    • Trucking Accidents
  • Personal Injury
    • Car and Truck Accidents
    • Premises Liability
    • Product Liability
    • Toxic Torts
    • Wrongful Death
  • About Us
    • Robert E Tucker
    • Erin M Tucker
    • Reviews
Picture

Workers' compensation

10/29/2018

0 Comments

 
By Erin Tucker
Picture
If you work for someone other than yourself, you probably are at least somewhat familiar with worker’s compensation. It’s a program designed to provide benefits to employees who are injured on the job, suffer a hearing loss or develop an occupational disease as the result of their on-the-job duties.

​Although workers comp might seem like a modern idea, the basic concept goes as far back as 2050 BC. Ancient Sumerian law included a list of the monetary value of specific body parts if lost or injured. Ancient Greek, Roman and Chinese laws had similar indexes.

Fast forward to the mid-1700’s and the Industrial Revolution. After emerging in Britain, the revolution spread to other parts of the world, and with it came factories and factory jobs — work which was often extremely dangerous and carried out in the harshest conditions. The resulting injury rate was enormous. 

In theory workers could seek compensation through the court system, but the existing laws were such that injured parties rarely received any renumeration. Workers were for all intents and purposes on their own. Industries even went so far as to make employees sign contracts — workers named them “death contracts” ​— as a condition of employment which forfeited their right to sue for damages if they were hurt.

The 19th century ushered in a more enlightened era. In an effort to quiet social unrest, in 1871 Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck implemented a system of social insurance known as the Employers’ Liability Law that provided some degree of protection for workers in industries. Thirteen years later he championed Workers’ Accident Insurance, which was the forerunner of today’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance.

Unfortunately, the idea of taking care of injured workers was slower to catch on in America. It took Upton Sinclair’s shocking 1906 novel The Jungle, which details the horrors workers experienced in Chicago slaughterhouses, to stir public outrage. In response Congress passed the Employers’ Liability Acts of 1906 and 1908, which made contributory negligence doctrines less restrictive. Wisconsin passed the first comprehensive workers’ compensation law in 1911, while Mississippi was the last state to follow suit in 1948. 

Iowa passed its law in 1913 requiring employers to have the means to compensate employees, with limited exceptions, for any work-related injuries. To provide this coverage, the majority of Iowa employers purchase workers' compensation insurance from a private insurance company.

Insurance companies are required to follow the law. Like any company, however, they’re in business to make a profit and provide a return on investment to their owners and stockholders, so it’s in their vested interest to minimize payouts as much as they can.

Here are the most frequent reasons clients turn to us for help getting compensated for workers’ comp claims:
  • The insurance company is refusing to pay benefits or is significantly delaying benefits
  • The injured worker is under the mistaken belief that he or she is prohibited from getting necessary medical care
  • The injured worker is offered nothing or an unreasonable amount for his or her claim

If you have been injured on the job and feel that you’re not being treated fairly, we’re here to help.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Search 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017

    Categories

    All
    Memorial Day
    Rotary Club
    Shoulder Injury
    Workers Compensation

    RSS Feed

    Note:

    This Blog is made available by the publisher for educational and entertainment purposes only, as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Blog/Web Site publisher. The Blog/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

Telephone: 515.276.8282
Toll Free: 800.276.5076
Fax: 515.276.4001
Tucker Law Office
2400 86th Street, Suite 35
​Des Moines, IA 50322     
​
Picture
      © 2021 by Tucker Law Office  |    All rights reserved    |    Privacy Policy    |    Disclaimer
    Get website design, email marketing and more at  Brainstorm
  • Home
  • Workers Compensation
    • Brain Injury
    • Disability and Death
    • Manufacturing Injury
    • Neck and Back Injury
    • On the Job Injury
    • Repetitive Motion Injury
    • Temporary Disabilty Benefits
    • Temporary Workers' Claims
    • Trucking Accidents
  • Personal Injury
    • Car and Truck Accidents
    • Premises Liability
    • Product Liability
    • Toxic Torts
    • Wrongful Death
  • About Us
    • Robert E Tucker
    • Erin M Tucker
    • Reviews