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Ohio Workers’ Compensation Laws: An Overview

Workers’ compensation law is founded on humanitarian principles and, in the interest of justice, provides benefits for those who unfortunately suffer work-related injuries. Ohio workers’ compensation laws were established to create a system that would be beneficial to both employees and employers in the following ways:

  1. The employer contributes money to a common fund available to all employees and in return is immune from full liability if an employee is injured during the course of employment.
  2. The employee surrenders the right to recover full damages for a work-related injury and in return will quickly receive compensation to help them toward a speedy recovery, regardless of any action by the employee that may have led to the injury.

What Is The Purpose Of Workers’ Compensation Laws?

Because the workers’ compensation fund is held in trust for claimants, conservation of money in the fund is not a legitimate basis for denying compensation to deserving injured workers. Ohio workers’ compensation laws do not, however, create an insurance fund to provide benefits to injured employees in general; it covers only injuries that arise out of employment. Workers’ compensation laws are meant to provide reasonable compensation to all injured workers. The goal, therefore, is not to award full compensation to only those employees injured due to employer negligence while denying coverage to employees injured by other causes.

Compensation Provided By Workers’ Compensation Laws

The Ohio General Assembly has, through the establishment of certain workers’ compensation laws, created a means to compensate injured workers. The first law (R.C. & 4123.56) provides compensation for temporary total disability when a worker is temporarily unable to return to their former position. In addition, the employee’s former position is held until they are able to return to work. This workers’ compensation law also provides compensation to an injured employee who suffers a loss of wages as a result of being unable to return to their former position of employment. Injured workers who are unable to find employment due to physical restrictions arising from the injury also qualify for compensation under this law.

The second of the Ohio workers’ compensation laws (R.C. & 4123.57) provides compensation for partial disability resulting from the injury. This is calculated based on a percentage of the injured worker’s permanent disability plus any scheduled losses (such as inability to use the fingers).

The last of the Ohio workers’ compensation laws (R.C. & 4123.58) provides compensation for permanent total disability until the injured worker’s death.

In addition to the compensation listed above, every injured worker in Ohio is entitled under workers’ compensation laws to medical, nursing and hospital services.

Additional Information On Workers’ Compensation Laws

For additional reading on the Ohio workers’ compensation system, you may refer to workers’ compensation attorney Philip J. Fulton’s work in “Ohio Workers’ Compensation Law, 2nd Ed,” (LexisNexis). More information can be found at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, or you may contact the Philip J. Fulton Law Office at 614-963-9569.

Purchase Fulton’s “Ohio Workers’ Compensation Law, 2nd Ed,” or its CD-ROM version.

Purchase Fulton’s “Ohio Workers’ Compensation Law Handbook” (softbound).

Contact Us To Schedule A Free Consultation

The Philip J. Fulton Law Office is experienced at handling many types of workers’ compensation claims, including construction accidents, wrongful death, exposure to harmful materials, injuries resulting from inadequate training, and repetitive motion injuries. To meet with one of our skilled attorneys to discuss workers’ compensation laws and your legal entitlements, contact the Philip J. Fulton Law Office today.