Getting Injured on the Job

Injuries can happen on the job. It usually happens in conventionally prone jobs like in construction, retail sales, and health care. From time to time, it can also occur in supposedly safe environments like schools.

Employees who get hurt while performing their functions in the course of employment are entitled to compensation. This is where worker’s compensation insurance comes in. It answers for the medical costs incurred by the injured employees. In the same way, the insurance covers a portion of the lost wages during the period that the employees concerned are not able to work.

There is no question the worker’s compensation insurance kicks in when the employee in working in a traditional job is injured. But what about those who work in non-traditional jobs?

This is a common questions especially from people who work independently from the conventional concept of employer-employee relationship. People like Uber or Lyft drivers. Or those who do freelance work from home. So who pays when they suffer injuries while on the job? It’s kind of an unusual setting, don’t you think?

Who Pays for the Injuries?

To determine who is liable to pay for a worker’s injury, a distinction needs to be made first. Is the worker an employee under the context of employer-employee? Or is he or she an independent contractor?

Generally only employees are the only ones covered under worker’s compensation benefit laws. Independent contractors, on the other hand, are not; they are not considered employees for the purpose of applying the legislation on worker’s compensation insurance.

Who Are Considered Employees?

Any person who performs work for another shall be considered an employee, provided the following criteria are met:

The employer maintains control and discretion over the means, manner, and method of doing the work;
The employer has the control and discretion over when the work is performed; and
The employee is not free to hire his own set of employees to help him in performing the work for the employer.

In view of the foregoing premises, an individual shall be considered an employee if the abovementioned elements are present. Otherwise, he or she shall be deemed an independent contractor.

A person classified as an independent contractor may not receive compensation under the pertinent worker’s compensation benefits laws for injuries suffered. Only employees can claim them.

Which is why, many unethical employers intentionally misclassify persons as independent contractors when they are actually employees. The reason is simply to evade their obligation as employers for the purpose of applying the worker’s compensation legislation.

But the law recognized this as a reality. To this end, Nevada legislation permits independent contractors (including those misclassified as such) to file legal actions for the recovery of damages on account of work-related injuries.

Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney

Whether you’re an actual employee or an independent contractor working for another person or company, you have the legal right to bring an action in court for the recovery of compensation for injuries sustained while performing work.

If you or your loved one has suffered a work-related injury, contact a highly experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorney. Have your case reviewed by Dan Lovell of Empire Law Group.