Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance system that provides medical and disability benefits for employees who suffer injury or illness because of their work.
With a few exceptions, every employer is required to provide workers’ compensation coverage for all its employees. Refer to Utah Code Ann. §34A-2-201.
The Utah Department of Insurance establishes basic premium rates. These basic rates are then modified to account for the risks of particular occupations and each employer’s claims history for work-related injuries and illnesses.
Employers’ are required to post notice that they are in compliance with workers’ compensation laws. These notices, which must be placed in conspicuous locations at the place of business, are available free of charge in English and Spanish at the Labor Commission and on the Labor Commission’s website on the Industrial Accidents Resources page.
Once an injury or illness has been reported to the employer, the employer has 7 days to report the claim “Employers First Report of Injury or Illness” (Form 122e) to its insurance carrier and the insurance carrier has 14 days to report the “First Report of Injury” electronically to the Industrial Accidents Division. The employer must provide a copy of the form 122e to the injured worker.
Medical care expenses that are reasonable and necessary to treat an employee’s injury or illness. This includes visits to a treating doctor, hospital bills, medicine and prosthetic devices. It also includes reimbursement for the cost of mileage to travel to receive medical treatment. Medical benefits are considered a lifetime benefit as long as the medical treatment is necessary to continue to address a work related injury or illness.
When a worker is injured, each missed day of work represents lost wages. In workers’ compensation insurance, indemnity benefits are paid to the employee to help them cover their loss of income. Payments are a portion of the worker’s average weekly wage, and take into consideration the extent of the disability.
When the death of an employee is the result of a work-related injury or illness, weekly dependent compensation is paid by the self-insured employer or insurance carrier to the surviving spouse and/or dependents.
If an employee dies from a work injury or illness, workers’ compensation will pay up to a certain amount for funeral and burial expenses.
The insurance carrier or self-insured employer may request that the dependent(s) supply copies of marriage, death, and/or birth certificates, and also relevant divorce decrees as part of the claim filing.
For more information regarding dependent death benefits and burial benefits, please contact the Industrial Accidents Division at (801) 530-6800.
An employee can return to work after a treating doctor releases the employee to light-duty or full-duty work release. If an employer accommodates suitable light-duty work, the employee is required to accept the work or risk losing their temporary disability compensation benefits. If an employer cannot offer light-duty work to an injured employee, the employee will be entitled to continue to receive temporary total disability benefits until the treating physician determines they are medically stable and able to return to work.
An employer may offer an injured employee a different position within their capabilities and pay the employee at the new position’s wage rate. An injured employee may be eligible for an award of temporary partial disability compensation to help offset the difference between old and new wage rates.
If a doctor determines an injured employee has a permanent impairment from a work injury or illness, the employee will be entitled to permanent partial disability compensation or in certain cases may be eligible for permanent total disability compensation.
The Utah Workers’ Compensation Act does not prohibit an employer from discharging an injured worker if the worker can no longer perform his or her job. If an employee is incapable of returning to work and perform their same job duties, an employer is not required to offer an employee a new job or retain them as an employee. If an employee has permanent partial disabilities that inhibits their ability to complete the same type of work, they were doing prior to their injury or illness, they may be eligible for rehabilitation services through the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation (USOR).
For more information regarding rehabilitation services, please call USOR at 1-866-454-8397.
