Understanding What is and Isn?t Covered by Workers? Compensation Massachusetts

Posted by Tina Smith on February 27th, 2018

If you're working in Massachusetts and you experience a work-related illness or injury, you can be assured that workers' compensation insurance shall defray your medical and loss-of-income expenses.

Of course, this is not confined to Massachusetts alone but also found in other industrialized countries as one of the benefits to workers.

And it is not something new, either. It's history dates back to as early as 2050 BC in ancient Sumeria. But its modern-day precursor was born in 1871 when Otto von Bismarck of Prussia implemented the Employers' Liability Law, a system of social insurance.It caught and became viral - spreading to neighboring European countries particularly the United Kingdom which was saddled with thousands of injuries resulting from the industrial revolution.

Ultimately, it crossed the Atlantic.

In 1908, the U.S. Congress passed the Employers' Liability Acts of 1906 and 1908 after  Upton Sinclair published his novel, The Jungle, which was about the horrible working conditions in Chicago's slaughterhouses.Wisconsin was the first to implement the law in 1911. Massachusetts and six other states soon followed.

 Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Law:

 Massachusetts Workers Compensation Law is embodied by the state's General Laws c. 152, § 25A, with the aim of providing workers' compensation (WC) insurance coverage for all employees therein.The Law requires all employers to cover their employees with workers' compensation insurance, including themselves if they are employees of said company

The scope of coverage:

Under the Workers' Compensation Law all employees who suffer a work-related illness or injury must be covered inclusive of these conditions…

-  Regardless of the number of hours worked in a week, or how an employee is paid, i.e. cash or "under the table" arrangement;

-  Those doing volunteer or "pro bono" work if the illness or injury they suffer is job-related;

-  Non-U.S. citizens or undocumented immigrant workers whose illness or injury is job-related.

-  A business owner or self-employed who enrolled in the workers' compensation program.

 Conditions for coverage:

Under the Law, compensation shall be under these conditions:

-  An injured worker must miss 5 calendar days before becoming entitled to workers' compensation benefits which are payable on the 6th day following the injury;

-  If the worker is out of work due to an industrial accident for more than 21 days, the insurer is only required to pay for the first 5 days;

-  If the injured worker misses 5 days but less than 21, payment is only made on the days missed after the fifth day.

Exclusions from coverage:

The Law, however, does not apply across-the-board where work-related illnesses and injuries are concerned. There are exceptions such as:

1.  First aid treatment:

Coverage is not given to injuries that can be treated using a classic first-aid kit such as cuts, scrapes, small wounds, or even slight headache.

However, if an employee regularly handles chemicals that give him headaches, he may file a claim.

2.  Non-work related injuries:

Injuries suffered during commuting to and back from work, or going out to lunch are not covered. So are those due to horseplaying, or fighting.

 3.  Mental health conditions:

Mental health conditions like stress are very difficult to prove or deny without proper medical evaluation.While stress is a part of everyday working life, but if an employee believes that his stress is work-related and can prove it, a claim may be filed.

 This  Article has been written by Tina Smith, associated with Ma Workers Compensation .we represent the best compensation lawyer.For more information about Personal injury lawyer Boston please visit: yourworkinjurylawyers.com