For a wide variety of reasons many people are considered part-time employees and work less than 40 hours a week. As a part-time worker when you were initially hired more than likely you were told part-time employees weren’t eligible for standard benefits including health insurance and personal leave time. You never though to ask about state mandated workers’ compensation coverage until another part-time worker was injured on the job.
Any business which operates in the state of South Carolina and employs four or more workers is required by state law to carry workers’ compensation on their employees. Exceptions are made for certain fields including agricultural and railroad employees, real estate agents who work on commission and employers who during the previous year had a total annual payroll of less than $3,000.
All full-time and part-time workers, except for the ones listed above, are legally required to be covered; this also includes any workers hired as subcontractor employees. A subcontractor with four or more employees legally is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. If a subcontractor employer fails to procure this coverage, while this is a violation of South Carolina state law, if an injury does occur on the job site, the worker would be covered by the company or business that initially hired the subcontractor’s firm.
If as a part-time employee you are hurt at the actual job site, if you are injured while driving a motor vehicle, whether your own car or a company car, van or truck during the course of your workday, if you are wounded at a company function or involved in an accident while working at another business, you need to immediately notify your employer. While South Carolina law does allow you 90 days in which to do so, the sooner you are able to do this, the better. Notification can be made by an immediate family member if your injuries are extremely serious or life-threatening. Legally, you are required to be treated by a physician or medical facility designated by your employer unless time is of the essence in terms of your health and well-being.
For injuries requiring long-term care, follow-up medical treatment or physical therapy, these costs will be covered by your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance up until the time the medical provider releases you from their care. If there is permanent disability, loss of a limb or appendage or disfigurement, this same insurance will compensate you based on algorithms per-determined by the Workers’ Compensation Act. If at any time you do not believe you are being treated fairly or if you are concerned with the amount of compensation being offered, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at Dan Pruitt Law Firm.
Perhaps your doctor has determined you need to be out of work for a certain length of time. South Carolina workers’ compensation states if you are unable to work for more than seven days, you are to be paid two-thirds of your weekly wage beginning on the seventh day. If you are restricted from returning to work for fourteen days or more then you will be paid from the day on which you were initially injured. But remember, no matter on what day your compensation begins, it will still only be two-thirds of your current weekly wage.
As experts in the field of workers’ compensation coverage, we can help you understand the law and will go over any and all viable options and how they pertain to your particular situation. Please call us today at 864-232-4273 to schedule a complementary initial consultation.