If you are one of the many thousands of people who are considering whether or not to set up a new business there is certainly a lot to think about. You may well need to take on some employees and should be aware that there are very specific regulations and requirements in order to safeguard such employees. For example, the Texas Department Of Insurance, Division of Worker’s Compensation is a specific state-run agency that helps to manage workers compensation benefits for people injured or killed on the job. It’s a regulatory organization that handles disputes and claims, but is not the provider of benefits – that situation is handled by specific insurance companies or in some cases self-insured employers or certified groups.

The government is particularly interested in the welfare of employees. In the case of private employers in Texas there is not a mandate to provide workers compensation for individual employees. However, employees will undoubtedly be very careful before they decide to work for you or not and as an employer, you’re required to tell them whether or not you will provide the coverage. In the event an employee sustains some kind of injury at work or contracts a type of illness then a worker’s compensation program can help to protect and pay for the appropriate medical benefits.

In Texas four different types of workers compensation benefits are available. These include medical benefits in order to help you with your medical care bills, and income benefits in order to address the wages you may lose due to illness or injury. Income benefits can be further subdivided into supplemental income, lifetime income, impairment income and temporary income.

In the worst case scenario, burial benefits may be paid out to the individual covering funeral costs, or death benefits paid to eligible family members, when the principal is killed on the job.

When it comes to employee benefits, have you ever had to file a claim for worker’s compensation? How smoothly did this process go?