According to the Florida Department of Financial Services, all businesses that carry four or more full or part-time employees are required to carry workers' compensation insurance. Exceptions apply to construction companies with at least one employee. These companies are required to carry workers' compensation insurance. Farms that have five or more regular employees and 12 other employees for seasonal agricultural work are required to carry coverage.
Workers' compensation in Florida allows an employee access to all "reasonable" and necessary treatment for injuries sustained on the job. This can include doctor visits, surgery, rehabilitation, prescription drugs and other care needed to get the employee back to work as soon as possible. According to the Guide to Florida Law, employees who die as a result of work-related injury are awarded death benefits of $100,000 payable to the employee's surviving spouse or dependent children.
An appropriate plan will provide for your employee's medical treatment if they get hurt on the job, injured in an auto accident while conducting business. Workers Compensation Coverage B provides coverage to employees when the employer is liable
This type of workers' compensation is also called Employers' Liability Coverage. It covers:
Bodily Injury By Accident - $100,000 each accident
Bodily Injury By Disease - $500,000 policy limit
Bodily Injury By Disease - $100,000 for each employee
Planning
At times, employers, not their employees will be held liable for the conduct of their employees. Even if the employer had no intention to cause harm and played no physical role in the harm. To understand why, you have to become familiar with two basic concepts that underlie employer liability:
Employers are viewed as directing the behavior of their employees and therefore must share in the positive as well as the negative results of their employee's behavior. Because an employer is legally entitled to the rewards of an employee's labor (profit), an employer also has the legal liability if that same behavior results in harm.
When someone is injured or harmed and needs to be compensated, the one most likely to pay is the employer. The legal system is interested in making the victim whole, and assigning liability to the employer rather than the employee has the best chance of meeting that goal.
Job-Related Accidents
Employers are vicariously liable under the doctrine of "respondeat superior" for the negligent acts or omissions by their employees in the course of employment. The key phrase is "in the course of employment". For an act to be considered within the course of employment, it must either be authorized by the employer or be so closely related to an authorized act that an employer should be held responsible.
