Employers Liability Insurance vs. Workers’ Compensation: Understanding the Differences

Employers liability (EL) insurance and workers’ compensation insurance are two common types of insurance that protect employers from financial liability and ensure employees receive the coverage they need for injuries and losses. 

What Is Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Workers’ compensation insurance typically pays for injured and sick workers’ medical costs and a portion of their lost wages. 

What Is Employers’ Liability Insurance?

Employers’ liability insurance, on the other hand, protects the employer from negligence lawsuits or lawsuits from workers whose injuries and losses are not entirely covered by workers’ compensation insurance.

Employers’ liability insurance can cover court costs, judgments against the employer, and other costs associated with a legal case. 

A California workers’ compensation lawyer can explain which type of insurance may apply in your case.

Some Notable Differences Between Employer Liability Insurance and Workers’ Comp

Workers’ compensation insurance is a common way for employees to seek compensation after developing a work-related injury or illness. 

If you or a loved one have suffered health problems in work-related circumstances, you should know that:

Workers’ Compensation Covers Injured and Sick Employees Regardless of Fault

Workers’ compensation insurance provides broad coverage for employees’ work-related health issues. The typical workers’ compensation case involves:

• An employee who qualifies for workers’ compensation insurance coverage suffers an injury or illness.
• The employee reports their ailment to the employer, who files a claim with their workers’ comp insurance provider.
• The employee and their attorney seek compensation covering medical expenses, a percentage of lost wages, and any other covered losses. The employee does not need to prove that someone else caused or contributed to their injury. Workers only need to establish that their injury was work-related to recover compensation.

Employers Liability Insurance Covers a Broader Range of Circumstances 

Employers liability insurance covers employers in ways that workers’ compensation insurance does not. For instance, the employer’s EL insurance may cover the employer when:

• An employee alleges employer negligence (and sues for damages like pain and suffering): While workers’ compensation insurance protects employers from most lawsuits, an employee may allege gross negligence, intentional infliction of harm, or other circumstances that warrant a lawsuit against an employer. Pain and suffering is a type of damage you may seek compensation for through a lawsuit, but not through a workers’ comp claim.
• A worker’s loved one suffers injury or illness because of a work-related ailment: Consider a circumstance in which an employee suffers a severe brain injury while working, and their spouse must become a full-time caregiver as a consequence. If the spouse suffers a heart attack or another health problem because of the stress of caring for their significant other, that spouse may sue their partner’s employer. 
• A worker passes away and their loved one sues for loss of consortium: While workers’ compensation insurance may provide death benefits, a spouse may still sue an employer for pain and suffering loss of consortium, and damages that workers’ compensation insurance does not cover. If you have lost a loved one due to work-related circumstances, a California wrongful death attorney from our team can compassionately represent you.
• A third party sues the employer: Consider an example in which a worker sues an earplug manufacturer because they suffered hearing loss, alleging that the product was defective. The hearing plug manufacturer might then sue the plaintiff’s employer alleging that the employer did not properly instruct the employee about how to use the earplugs.

Workers’ Comp and Employers Liability Insurance Go Hand-in-Hand

Employers must be prepared for situations where workers or others are injured and need compensation for injuries, illnesses, and wrongful deaths. Therefore, many employers in California will have:

• Workers’ compensation insurance
• Employers liability insurance
• General liability insurance

These forms of insurance protect the employer from substantial financial losses. For injured employees and their loved ones, these various forms of insurance (and lawsuits) also provide a way to seek compensation for medical costs, pain and suffering, lost income, and other losses.

Injured and Sick Workers’ Should Not Worry About Their Employer’s Insurance—Let an Attorney Do That

The insurance landscape is complicated by nature. You don’t have to navigate the details of insurance policies on your own—in fact, when you hire an attorney from our team, you don’t have to navigate these complex details at all.

Allow your California personal injury lawyer to:

• Secure evidence detailing how you suffered an injury or illness or lost a loved one
• Evaluate your insurance options and recommend a case strategy
• Demand a fair settlement from any liable insurers
• Represent you in a lawsuit (and any necessary trial) if necessary

Our lawyers have helped many injured and sick workers, and loved ones who deserve compensation, obtain fair settlements and verdicts.

Injured and Sick Workers (and Their Loved Ones) Deserve Fair Compensation for Their Damages

Our attorneys often demand compensation for sick and injured workers’:

• Pain and suffering
• Medical expenses
• Lost income
• Diminished earning capacity
• Vocational retraining

If you have lost a loved one, you may deserve compensation for:

• Funeral expenses
• Loss of consortium
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of the decedent’s wages and other types of financial support

We also consider the cost of disabling injuries. Our lawyers will craft settlement demands that mirror your losses. We will seek enough compensation to ensure your long-term financial stability.

Call KJT Law Group Today for Your Free Consultation About Hiring a California Workers’ Compensation or Employers’ Liability Lawyer

Our firm’s case results include many large settlements and verdicts that total more than $100 million. With more than ten years of experience, we believe in practicing the Art of Law—that means tailoring each case to the unique needs and goals of the client. 

Call KJT Law Group today for your free consultation with a California workers’ comp attorney. We will review your case at no cost, answer your questions, and move forward with your case as soon as possible.