Under California state labor laws, for an employee to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits, the injury, accident, or illness suffered must be related in some way to an employment requirement. This means that it must be a consequence of performing their work duties or while they were at their workplace. In addition, the law divides the different types of injuries into the following categories:
- Physical injuries: The most common injuries in this category are: Injuries to the back, head, neck, knees, hips, ankles, and feet; eye injuries, injuries to the hands and wrists, shoulders, burn injuries, loss of limbs, and amputations, and many more.
- Repetitive motion injuries: Repetitive strain or stress injuries (RSI) are widespread and are unfortunately very painful and debilitating. This type of injury appears over time and attacks employees of all sectors.
- Pre-existing conditions: If the employee has a pre-existing injury or illness and a work activity aggravates it, they can claim compensation. In these cases, the employee must have medical support to show that their health worsened due to work conditions or activities.
- Hearing loss: The most frequent cases of this type of injury are those in the workplace where they are exposed to noise that can cause hearing loss.
- Stress-related injuries: Increasingly, many employees are suffering from stress due to the high demands of the workplace. It is scientifically proven that these conditions often cause mild or severe health problems in employees.
- Occupational Illness: Workers’ compensation generally covers illnesses that employees develop due to exposure on the job. Work-related illnesses can range from traditional occupational diseases to coronavirus / COVID-19 (changes in the law have happened recently due to the pandemic).
- Death caused by a workplace injury or illness: In the event of death due to an injury, illness, or accident caused by or at the workplace, eligible dependents can collect workers’ compensation death benefits.
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