South Carolina Work Injury Lawyers
Workers’ Compensation Law
The industrial revolution heralded a time of fantastic change for western society. In particular, it altered the way workers related to their jobs. With the advent of new technologies and the rise of mass production, workers found themselves subject to all sorts of new ways to get hurt on the job.
Injured workers struggled not only with the consequences of their often brutal injuries, but also with the financial burdens associated with supporting their families while incapacitated.
Workers had few avenues for getting compensation for medical costs, time off work, and lost income potential. Some tried suing their employers. But the odds heavily favored the employers, who often escaped liability, defending that the employee’s own negligence was the cause of the injury.
Political analysts of the day realized that, unless action was taken to support hurt workers, they and their families would wind up on government assistance. This would create a drain on taxpayers and the economy as a whole.
A Grand Bargain
To protect workers and their families, and at the same time shield the economy from the consequences described above, states began to enact workers’ compensation laws. These laws represented a grand bargain between employers and employees, carried out in the state legislatures. Employees agreed to give up the right to sue their bosses in exchange for their employers agreeing to pay workers’ compensation benefits, regardless of fault.
Workers’ compensation systems provided limited benefits compared to a successful lawsuit, but they did cover things like:
- compensation for permanent disability
- payments for medical care
- a percentage of their weekly pay
Under the South Carolina workers’ compensation laws, workers could not recover benefits beyond those stipulated in the statute. For instance, they could not seek compensation for pain, suffering, and loss of companionship, which are typical elements of damages in personal injury tort claims.
