Any employee can collect WC benefits after an accident in Pennsylvania, including:

• Part-time workers
• Temporary workers
• Seasonal workers
• Full-time workers
• New employees
• Terminated, resigned, or retiring employees who are packing up their office or locker, and
• Any other employees who are employed by the company.

Nearly all employers are required to obtain WC insurance and properly maintain it for their employees. Not only do employers have to obtain WC insurance, but they also must comply with Pennsylvania law in terms of giving notice of benefits to employees and timely submitting notice of a claim to the WC carrier.

Employers who fail to carry WC insurance and are required to do so may face civil and criminal liability.

Yes, you may be entitled to recover WC benefits and Social Security benefits (either SSDI or SSI, sometimes both) for severe and prolonged workplace injuries or illnesses. However, you will not be entitled to recover both sets of benefits in full. An offset calculation lowers the total amount of SSDI/SSI you may be entitled to. This is a complicated calculation that an experienced lawyer should review.

Sometimes, but not always. Workers’ compensation is considered the “exclusive remedy” for injured workers in Pennsylvania. This means that an injured employee cannot sue an employer for workplace injuries in most instances. However, there are exceptions where the employer fails to carry WC benefits, intentionally harms the employee, or gives the employee an inherently dangerous task that was likely to maim or kill a worker. It is rare that an employee could sue an employer.

It is not as rare for an employee to sue a third party who may have caused his or her injuries. This includes third parties who cause a traffic accident (i.e., run a red light), fail to keep their property reasonably safe (i.e., slip and fall while working in a customer’s home), or other third parties whom the same company does not employ.