Historical Background of Workers’ Compensation

Attorney George Sink, Sr.:

Hello. I'm Attorney George Sink, and I'd like to talk to you a while about workers' compensation law. Where'd it come from? Well, here's some historical background. 

American workers' compensation laws were developed early in the 20th century as a means of caring for and partially compensating an employee who was injured on the job or suffered from an occupational disease. Prior to that time, employers had no legal obligation to provide for injured employees. 

A worker who suffered an injury or an illness related to their job had no means of recovering for their losses, other than to sue their employer for the damages. Usually, this was time-consuming and costly. In most cases, the employer was able to defeat the employee's claim by establishing the employer was not responsible for the injury or that the employee was injured due to their negligence or the negligence of a coworker.

With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, work related disabilities increased. It became evident that if steps were not taken, injured employees and their families would have to rely on public assistance. That would place a lot of strain on society as a whole. 

Thus, the states, including South Carolina, enacted workers' compensation laws. In exchange for the benefits the employer was giving, the employee had to give up their rights to sue their employer. They could only claim those benefits established under the state law. That's some weekly pay, medical care, and disability. 

Under state law, an injured worker cannot receive anything for pain, suffering, loss of consortium, inconvenience, et cetera. Please feel free to call us at George Sink Injury Lawyers at any time.