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Temp workers face lack of workers compensation

On Behalf of | Apr 15, 2021 | Firm News

When a worker is injured, he or she counts on the ability to be compensated for those injuries by his or her employer. But not every worker has that support system available. Most notably, temporary workers do not.

Provisional employees have become more commonly used in recent years. While this is beneficial for the companies using them, the workers themselves don’t receive the kind of treatment and benefits they would as employees. Unfortunately, the short-term work system allows companies to get out of not only unemployment taxes and other duties other employers have, but also workers’ comp claims.

To add to that, agencies that hire temporary workers are widely known for wage and hour violations, as well as high injury rates. Part of this is likely due to the type of work involved, but some of it also has to do with the fact that there is less regulation among impermanent employment. In some places, the risk of injury for temporary workers is significantly greater than for regular employees. For temps involved in dangerous jobs, the difference between injury rates of temps and employees is even more.

For these workers, labor law protections still apply. These include protections against harassment, discrimination and protections for workplace health and safety. Workers’ compensation is only required for true employees, though.

Even for permanent individuals, obtaining adequate compensation through the workers comp scheme is not always easy. In such cases, it can help to speak with an experienced professional.

Source: The Fiscal Times, “The Curse of Temporary Labor: A Temporary Life,” Michael Grabell, March 10, 2014.