Colorado Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to provide benefits to employees who are injured or become ill as a result of their job. It serves a dual purpose of offering coverage to employees and helping protect business owners from employees filing civil suits against them if they are injured on the job.

Coverage includes medical expenses, lost wages, and other benefits if an employee suffers a work-related injury. Benefits vary by state, but medical expense coverage typically includes doctors visits, hospitalization, continued care such as physical therapy. Some policies also offer compensation for permanent disabilities and death. In the case of death on the job or as a result of work, workers’ compensation insurance pays a death benefit to the employee’s dependents.

Yes, workers’ compensation is legally required in the state of Colorado according to the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Act. It mandates that all employers are required to have workers’ compensation insurance regardless of the size of their business and the working basis of the employees. This means that any employer that has one or more employees, full-time, part-time, or temporary, must provide this form of coverage. Failure to comply with this legislation can lead to the employer receiving a penalty and a fine.

Workers’ compensation insurance offers important protection to employees and also serves as a social contract between employers and their employees, disincentivizing employees from pursuing a civil suit if they are injured at work.