Compensation Laws and Legislation Research Paper

Compensation Laws and Legislation - Research Paper Example Medical treatment requires that an employer or an employers insurer pay the medical bills and requirements, of an employee injured in the course of duty, or gets sick due to work related factors. Vocational rehabilitation requires an employer to offer rehabilitative services to an employee who gets disabled due to work related factors, and is unable to get employed due to that disability. All these requirements of the law are discussed giving examples of related court cases. The court cases illustrate different situations that arise in workers compensation laws, and provide guidance to employers on what they should do when faced with similar situations. Pieces of legislation relating to compensation are covered under Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA). This legislation ensures workers are paid their medical, disability, and other related benefits in case one gets ill or gets hurt on the job. The benefits are paid to an employee’s dependents if the employee gets killed on the job. The laws are designed to ensure employees who become injured or disabled are given financial support. These laws also guide employers to provide necessary compensation and avoid the need for litigation (Hwang & Kleiner 70). Some laws also protect the employers by getting rid of liability of co-workers in most accidents, and by limiting the amount an injured employee can be paid. Federal Employees’ Compensation Act is specific to federal employees only, but there are Workers’ Compensation Acts established by each State that guide employers in those States. This paper is focused on discussing the three critical pieces of legislation relating to compensation. Workers’ Compensation Act ensures employees get their benefits through three main programs; medical treatment, wage replacement, and vocational rehabilitation. These three programs are considered the most critical parts of the Workers’ Compensation Act (Hwang & Kleiner 70). These are payments made by a