As our world revolutionizes and the workplace continues to change, especially in the last two years, the area of Workers’ Compensation must also change and recognize protections for employers as well as employees. While the idea of having a system such as this in place makes sense, did you know that the idea of a workers’ comp. system has been around for thousands of years?
Before
the concept ever made it to America, its development began in Ancient Sumer
(now present-day Iraq). In early work comp. law, it was established that there
was certain compensation for specific body parts. For example, losing a finger
such as a thumb was equivalent to losing half the value of a finger.
Ancient
civilizations such as the Greek and Chinese would then develop this idea and
proceed to create compensation schedules and again, specific body parts
determined what the injured worker was entitled to, and how much.
Surprisingly, modern day
workers’ compensation law developed in Prussia in the 1800’s. In the height of
the socialist movement, protection for workers was one of the top priorities of
this time. This led to the establishment of Workers’ insurance to provide a
safety net for those who had been temporarily or permanently injured while on
the job. More benefits were given to those workers who continued to work on a
modified basis, or those who had the best chance of recovery and returning
fully to the workplace.
Many
countries, including the United States, would take this model from Prussia and
develop it into a framework that worked for each country and employment system.
However, progress in the United States was slow. It was not until the
publishing of the novel The Jungle by
Upton Sinclair, which detailed the horrifying conditions of working in a
Chicago slaughterhouse, that workers’ compensation in the United States began
to change.
Wisconsin
was the first state to pass a workers’ compensation law in 1911. It would take
almost 40 years for every state in the United States to pass work comp. laws,
with the final being Mississippi in 1948.
Florida developed its first workers’ compensation law in 1935. There have been many changes in Florida’s
work. comp. laws over the years, with the last major revisions being made in
2003.
Since
then, and as the United States has continued to develop and revolutionize,
workers’ comp. has adapted and grown to accommodate the ever-changing workplace
and needs of employees and employers. The creation of Social Security Disability
Insurance and the Americans with Disabilities Act has also helped guide
regulations and laws addressing workplace safety and accommodations.
Today,
workers’ compensation serves as a safety net to protect employees from risking
their health for their jobs as well as protecting employers from the high cost
of tort litigation for on-the-job injuries. Far from the days of merely compensating
an employee based on the limb they lost, workers’ comp. now covers medical
needs, missed wages, as well as many other work-related issues.
If
you have suffered a work-related injury and would like to speak with an
attorney about your claim, please fill out our contact form below, we would
love to schedule a free consultation for you!
**This blog serves informational purposes only and
material within the post does not constitute legal advice. If you have any
questions or a workers’ comp. claim, please fill out our contact form below to
schedule a free consultation with Marcie Baker.
Sources: https://www.insureon.com/blog/history-of-workers-comp
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1888620/
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