My Commitment: Putting You First

If Your Employer Doesn’t Have Workers’ Compensation Insurance

You work every day, doing your job, giving your employer an honest day’s work. One day, you get hurt at work and you report the injury to your employer or you could possibly be taken to the hospital in an ambulance, seriously injured. You arrive at the hospital for treatment. You soon find out your employer doesn’t have the workers’ compensation insurance that is required by law in California. Employers in California are required to buy workers’ compensation insurance from an insurance company or become self-insured through a state program.

Now, what do you do? How can you pay for your treatment? Your employer comes to visit you and promises they’ll take care of everything. But soon, you find out they have left you holding the bag for the bills, thousands of dollars of bills mounting up. You have collection companies calling you. Now, what do you do?

As reported by Lisa Cullen on PBS Frontline, workers’ compensation fraud and uninsured employers are shockingly common: “13.1% were operating without legally required workers’ compensation insurance. In just the next year, the auditors found the rate grew another half percent. Stating that 13.6% is probably an underestimate, the audit report explained that in addition to a large number of employers making no attempt to buy the insurance, still, others cheat the system by intentionally under-reporting or misclassifying its payroll and by falsely representing employees as independent contractors.”

I’m attorney Stephen Dial at Dial & Associates PC. I can help you, guide you and get you treatment, speak to the collection companies and negotiate their liens against you for your treatment. My team and I will file a workers’ compensation claim against your employer by requesting the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) to decide what benefits you have a right to receive. If you get hurt on the job, the law requires your employer to provide workers’ compensation benefits. These include medical care for your injury and payments if you are unable to work or have a permanent disability because of the injury.

If your employer is illegally uninsured and does not provide workers’ compensation benefits for your injuries, you legally may file a civil lawsuit against your employer for personal injury and for your employer’s failure to carry workers’ compensation insurance also, your employer is subject to substantial fines and penalties. California labor law gives the injured workers the right to sue illegally uninsured employers in civil court for personal injury: Labor Code §§ 3706-3709.5. A lawsuit allows an employee to claim a wider range of damages, including lost wages, and pain and suffering (the workers’ compensation system doesn’t pay injured workers for pain and suffering). Punitive damages may also be awarded in cases of an employer’s reckless disregard for the safety of their employees and/or gross negligence. Unlike other workers’ compensation attorneys, I have experience in filing and litigating suits against uninsured employers successfully. I can get your medical bills paid and get you a settlement for your injuries.

Free Consultation About Your Claim

Call me at 714-923-7968 to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation to explore what your options are if your employer is uninsured. I’m committed to getting you the treatment and compensation you need.

I’m located in Anaheim Hills and handle workers’ compensation cases throughout Southern California, including, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, Orange County and Riverside County. Se habla español.