When working as a contract employee, you are not on the payroll and your benefits from the employer are limited. You may not be covered under the worker’s compensation insurance and you might have limited rights to go to court and claim compensation.
Despite all these restrictions, you still have an open door to access compensation depending on the cause of injury and where it occurred. If you get injured while on your employer’s premises or official duty in any other place, the following actions can help you get compensated.
Injuries due to employer’s negligence
Even though you are not covered under worker’s compensation insurance, the person who has contracted you is responsible for providing a safe working environment. If you are not sure which safety measures your employer should provide, your workers’ compensation lawyer Long Beach can help you identify them.
If you are working on a construction site, the owner must ensure they have all the necessary approvals and follow all the building and construction rules. If there is an omission of any of these, you have the full right to be compensated.
Alerting your employer
As a contract employee, you have a responsibility to protect yourself from injuries but if in any case you get injured, you still have a duty to alert your employee. It doesn’t matter if you will be compensated or not, but reporting can help you if your accident attorney in Long Beach discovers you have a strong case to present against your employer. The employer will not have grounds to claim the injury happened from another place or off duty.
Contact a personal injury lawyer
You might not be able to decide by yourself if you have a case against your employer but your personal injury attorney Long Beach can advise what to do. After you have reported the injury to your employer, the next step will be to seek medical help and to report to your personal injury lawyer.
The lawyer is trained and knows the kind of investigations to do, questions to ask, and weigh all available options. Your lawyer can help you build a case and you get compensated for your injuries.
Details of contract documents
Before you begin working as a contract employee, you should first get all the necessary contract documents signed by all concerned persons. Without the documents, you cannot provide proof that you were working as a contract employee in the company.
Get the details or copies of your contract documents and be ready to present whenever they are needed.
You might discover you hadn’t signed any contract with the employer and in such a case, if possible, take photos of the site you got injured and save them. You must keep taking photos as you work even if you are not injured.
Have you been injured at the workplace?
You might do your best to prevent work-related injuries but they can still happen when you least expect them. If you get injured at the workplace and you are working as a contract employee, you must contact a workers’ injury lawyer the soonest. We will study your case and offer help. Do not hesitate to contact us on telephone number (562) 526-1224.
