Can Self-Employed Individuals Receive Workers Compensation?

Workers compensation is a type of insurance that covers medical expenses and wages for employees who get hurt on the job. If you get hurt during work hours at your place of working, you can usually file a claim with workers compensation and receive financial help with your medical bills and lost wages. On the job injuries can be painful and confusing to deal with. Some employees can not return to work for a while during the recovery process. In most states, employers are required to provide workers compensation for their employees. However, as a self-employed individual can you receive workers compensation?

Workers compensation laws can vary from state to state, but in most cases including Florida employers are required to provide workers compensation insurance for their employees. In most workplaces, in order to qualify an injured person needs to prove that he or she is an employee and prove that the injury happened on the job. With this in mind, most employees who are injured while working are covered by workers compensation. However, the laws are different for employees who are considered self-employed.

Construction companies are actually required to have workers compensation even if there is only one employee in the company. Workers compensation insurance can also be purchased by those who are self-employed or independent contractors. It is a personal expense, but it may be worth it. Especially for people who work in contracting or higher risk professions. In some cases, it may be worth it to check and see if you are misclassified as an independent contractor or freelance worker for certain companies. You may qualify as an employee and earn workers compensation if injured on the job.

There is some gray area in the self-employed worker’s compensation area, but there is no denying that injured employees need to be taken care of. If you feel you need to get an attorney involved to help ease some of the stress that comes with on the job injury as a self-employed individual, Franco Law Firm can help. To learn more and to schedule a free consultation, please call us at (813) 872-0929.