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If you hire anyone in your pharmacy, workers compensation is something you must have by law. This type of insurance is designed to protect you, as the employer in the event that an employee is hurt or becomes sick because of working for you. That worker is entitled to compensation for medical care and the costs can be extensive. They could include the costs of doctor visits, stays in a hospital, prescription medications, diagnostics, and even rehabilitation or physical therapy.
First Aid Treatment
Even for the most minor of accidents, your employees are entitled to medical care. This may be as simple and inexpensive as first aid. Technically, your workers compensation policy for your pharmacy can cover the small costs of first aid for small injuries. But, it is sometimes more trouble and leads to more expense to make a claim on your insurance for something so inexpensive. For this reason, many states allow you to simply pay for first aid care out of pocket without involving workers comp.
Temporary Disability
If an accident at work is a little more serious and causes an employee to be unable to do their job a few days later, they are entitled to temporary disability payments to cover their lost wages. This is another major expense for you as the business owner and another reason for workers compensation. The workers compensation that you have for your pharmacy will help you to make these payments. In order to qualify, the worker must be seen by a physician who deems them unfit to do their job. The payments for temporary disability are meant to replace two-thirds of your employee’s salary or hourly wage. The payments are made until the worker can come back to the job or until they are declared permanently disabled up to a maximum set by workers compensation law.
Permanent Disability
Your pharmacy’s workers compensation insurance also covers the cost of permanent disability payments if your employee needs them. A worker can become eligible for permanent disability if they are found by a doctor to be unable to ever return to their job at the pharmacy. The amount that they are entitled to receive is based on a calculation that comes from several factors and is determined by current workers compensation law. The basis for the calculation includes the age of the injured worker, their accident and the severity of their disability, and their possibilities for earning future wages. To receive the permanent disability, the worker may choose to get frequent payments or to get the entire amount at once in a lump sum settlement.
Death Benefits
In the extreme case that a worker dies on the job or as a result of a work accident, your pharmacy workers compensation will help to pay burial expenses. It will also make payments to the dependents of the deceased.