Knowing your rights is important. If you find out that your employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, you still may have a case.
An employer that negligently fails to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for each day without coverage, punishable by up to 12 months imprisonment and a $2,500 fine. An employer that knowingly fails to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage is guilty of a Class 4 felony for each day without coverage, punishable by 1-3 years imprisonment and a $25,000 fine. An uninsured employer may also be fined up to $500 for every day it lacked workers’ compensation insurance coverage, with a minimum $10,000 fine. In addition, if the Workers’ Compensation Commission finds that when an employer knowingly failed to obtain workers’ compensation insurance coverage, it may issue a stop-work order and shut the company down until it obtains workers’ compensation insurance.
The fines collected under these provisions are deposited into the Injured Workers’ Benefit Fund, which are then distributed, on a pro rata basis, to injured workers whose uninsured employers failed to pay benefits awarded by the Commission.
Ordinarily, an injured employee cannot sue in civil court because the employee’s remedy is limited to a statutory cause of action pursuant to a provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act. This provision provides a protection to employers who may otherwise be named as a defendant in a civil suit. This is commonly known as the “sole remedy” provision of the Act. Importantly, however, an uninsured employer loses the protections of the Workers’ Compensation Act for the period of its noncompliance. This means an employee who was injured during the period of noncompliance may sue in civil court, where there are no limits to awards. Other obstacles may exist, but your employer is not absolved of its responsibility to you simply because it did not obtain workers’ compensation insurance.
— Junira A. Castillo
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