Connecticut workers' compensation insurance

Connecticut businesses with employees are required to provide workers’ compensation insurance benefits. This policy covers the cost of medical care for job-related injuries, and provides death benefits in the event of an employee fatality.

Employers are not required to cover household employees who work fewer than 26 hours per week. All other employees, whether they’re part-time, full-time, or seasonal, must be covered under an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy.

If you’re a business owner, member of an LLC, corporate officer, partner in a partnership, sole proprietor, or independent contractor, you’re not required to have workers’ compensation coverage.

Given the high cost of medical bills, you should consider purchasing this policy even when it's not required. Individual health insurance plans typically won't cover work-related injuries.

Additionally, here's what your workers' comp policy won't cover:

• Injuries caused by intoxication, drugs, or company policy violations
• Injuries claimed after a firing or layoff
• Wages for a replacement worker
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines

Insurance providers use a specific formula for calculating workers' comp premiums:

To save money on workers' comp insurance, it's important to make sure you classify your employees correctly. Employees with desk jobs or other jobs with a low risk of injury cost less to insure. This also helps you avoid misclassification fines.

In some cases, small business owners can choose to buy pay-as-you-go workers' compensation. This type of workers' comp policy has a low upfront premium, and lets you make payments based on your actual payroll instead of an estimated payroll. It's useful for businesses that hire seasonal help or have fluctuating numbers of employees.

A ghost policy is a cheap option in some states, though it is not permitted in Connecticut. A ghost policy is a workers' comp policy in name only. It provides no protection or medical benefits, but can fulfill contractual requirements for a workers' comp certificate at a reduced price.

Finally, a documented safety program can help lower workers' comp costs. A safer workplace means fewer accidents, which helps keep your premium low.

Workers’ compensation can help cover medical expenses and partial wage replacement for an employee who suffers from a workplace injury or occupational disease. It can provide benefits for:

• Temporary total disability
• Temporary partial disability
• Permanent partial disability
• Disfigurement or scarring
• Job retraining / vocational rehabilitation
• Relapse or recurrence of an injury
• Support of dependents in the event of a fatal incident

Workers' compensation also provides temporary partial disability benefits or temporary total disability benefits if the employee needs to take time off work. In Connecticut, the workers' compensation rate is 75% of their after-tax average weekly wage.

In case of a catastrophic injury that leads to permanent partial disability or permanent disability, such as loss of a body part, the injured employee receives weekly benefits for an amount of time determined by their injury.

Workers' comp policies usually include employer's liability insurance, which can help cover attorney fees and other expenses if an employee blames their employer for an injury. However, the exclusive remedy provision in most workers' comp policies prohibits an employee from suing their employer if they accept workers' comp benefits.

The Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Act includes a variety of penalties for failure to carry the correct workers’ compensation insurance for your business.

If the State of Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) learns that you don’t have the right coverage, it may issue a stop-work order. That means employees are not permitted to work until workers’ compensation insurance is paid to the insurance carrier. The Workers' Compensation Commission also imposes a $300 fine per worker per day if there isn’t proper coverage.

Fines and penalties can add up to thousands of dollars for delays or failure to comply.

If an employee dies as a result of a work-related injury or illness, death benefits can be awarded to surviving dependents. The Connecticut workers' compensation law includes $4,000 in burial expenses for the deceased worker.

A surviving spouse can receive death benefits until they remarry. The spouse receives the benefit on their own behalf and on behalf of the surviving minor dependent children.

If the children don’t live with the surviving spouse or aren’t that spouse’s children, the death benefit is divided equally among the dependents. A minor child’s share of the benefit is paid to a surviving parent or guardian.

If there isn’t a surviving spouse, the children divide the benefits equally. If there isn’t a spouse or children, benefits can be received by other family members who were financially dependent on the deceased worker.

A workers’ compensation settlement is an agreement between the parties that resolves a workers’ comp claim between the injured employee and the employer. Both injured workers and the employer can benefit from this, by avoiding time consuming and expensive litigation.

A workers’ compensation claim can cover an injury from a single accident or injuries that take place over long periods of time, like repetitive motion disorders, job-related hearing loss, or occupational diseases such as mesothelioma.

Connecticut general statutes are very clear that a workers’ compensation case settlement is full and final for closing a claim. Once the insurer and the employee agree on the terms of a settlement, the employee may not bring any claim or lawsuit against their employer in the future for reimbursement of medical treatment for that injury.

A Connecticut workers’ compensation claim must be filed within one year after an injury, such as damage to a body part or disfigurement. If it’s an occupational disease, the claim must be made within three years of the first manifestation of symptoms.

If you are ready to buy a workers' compensation policy, start a free application with Insureon to compare quotes from top-rated insurance carriers. A licensed insurance agent will help answer your questions and explain your coverage options. Once you find the right policy, you can usually begin coverage and get your certificate of insurance in less than 24 hours.