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If you are sick or injured as a direct result of work, you may be entitled to employee compensation. These benefits include medical benefits, long-term care benefits such as physiotherapy, disability benefits, and family death benefits if you die as a result of injury or illness at work.
Workers ‘compensation laws vary from state to state, and each state has its own workers’ compensation laws and regulations. Here’s a look at how employee compensation works in Maryland.
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Who Must Get Maryland Workers Comp Insurance?
Any Maryland company with one or more employees is required by law to take out workers’ compensation insurance for its employees. And this also includes companies with part-time employees. There are only a few exceptions to the requirement.
For example, farm entrepreneurs with fewer than three workers or who earn less than $ 15,000 a year are excluded from the employee compensation obligation.
What Maryland Workers Comp Insurance Covers
The Maryland Employee Compensation Act provides the following types of employee compensation.
Temporary full disability benefits. If an employee suffers an injury that prevents them from returning to work, they may be eligible for temporary full disability benefits. This compensation is two thirds of the person’s average weekly wage. It has a maximum benefit of the average weekly wage in Maryland.
Temporary partial disability benefits. This type of benefit is temporary and can be paid out when an employee can work part-time for a lower wage. In the case of temporary disability benefits, the payments amount to 50% of the difference between the employee’s average weekly wage and the wage earned in the event of the employee’s temporary partial disability.
Permanent full disability benefits. Some occupational accidents are so serious that an employee is both permanently and completely disabled. Benefits are available to these employees in the event of permanent and complete disability.
Permanent partial disability benefits. These employee compensation benefits apply to employees with permanent impairment due to a work-related injury or illness.
Medical benefits. The following medical benefits are covered by Maryland Workers’ Compensation:
- Medical supplies
- Surgical supplies
- Hospital and nursing services
- medicine
- crutches
- Artificial arms, feet, hands and legs and other prostheses
Wage reimbursement benefits. Thanks to the Workers Compensation Act, wage replacement benefits are paid for the loss of wages of an injured employee. The period that is consulted by the doctor at the employer’s request is also insured.
Vocational rehabilitation services. If an employee is unable to do their job due to a work-related accident or illness, they can apply for vocational rehabilitation to get back to work. These services include:
- Coordination of medical services
- Job appraisal
- Job evaluation
- Career counseling
- Development of a professional rehabilitation plan
- Monitoring the vocational rehabilitation plan
- Vocational rehab training
- Job development
- Job placement
Death benefits. Weekly death benefits are available for the families of workers who die as a result of work-related injury or illness. The funeral costs are also made available to the bereaved.
Where Can You Buy Maryland Workers Comp Insurance?
Maryland businesses can purchase employee compensation insurance from any insurance company licensed to sell employee compensation policies. Price comparisons can help companies find the lowest prices for employee compensation.
Alternatively, Maryland companies can apply for auto insurance. Self-insured employers use their own funds to pay employee compensation claims. To insure yourself, you need to get the approval of the Workers Compensation Commission.
Largest Workers Comp Insurance Company in Maryland
Compensation costs for workers in Maryland
Factors influencing the cost of employee compensation insurance in Maryland include: employee rating, company claims history, and company payroll.
According to Cerity, the average Maryland employee compensation rates are 24 cents per $ 100 paycheck for the lowest risk employees and $ 13.89 per $ 100 payroll for the highest risk employees.
How to File an Employee Compensation Claim in Maryland
If you have an accident at work or an illness, you can file an employee’s claim with the Workers Compensation Commission. This employee application form can be completed and submitted online. You can obtain printed employee claim forms from your employer or the Maryland Workers Compensation Commission at (410) 864-5100. If you are calling from outside the greater Baltimore area, you can call toll free at (800) 492-0479.
Injuries Covered by Maryland Workers Compensation Act
Not all injuries are covered by the Employee Compensation Act in Maryland, even if the injury occurred while the employee was on the job. In Maryland, under the Maryland Bylaws, the accident must have been caused by “accidental personal injury out of and while on the job” for the injury to be insured.
Let’s take a closer look at these statutes. First, Maryland’s Workers Injury Act only protects workers. In order for an employee to have employee accident protection, a real employer-employee relationship must exist.
If there is an employer-employee relationship, the next factor to consider is whether the injury was an accident. An accidental injury is one that happens by accident.
Occupational diseases caused by the work-related circumstances of the employee, such as long-term exposure to chemical solvents or exposure to asbestos, are exempt from the accident obligation.
To be eligible for employee compensation in Maryland, the injury must result from employment. This means that the conditions in which the work must be carried out by the employer will cause the worker to be injured. In simple terms, an employee is at risk or danger because of their job requirements.
A claim for damages for workers in Maryland must also be made in the context of employment that focuses on the time, place, and even circumstances of the injury. If an employer was working at the workplace at the time of the injury, it is assumed that the injury occurred as part of the employment of an employee.
With all of the elements of the Maryland Workers Comp statute in place, you may be eligible for compensation for your injuries and shouldn’t hesitate to file a claim.
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