Welcome to our Oregon Workers Compensation blog. First, a little bit about us. As Butch said to Sundance "Who are those guys?" I have been representing injured workers in Oregon since 1976. The new addition to the firm Evohl Malagon, has more experience than I do.
Enough about us, you are reading this to learn about the Oregon Workers Compensation law. Let's start with some basics
It is mandatory.
Oregon has a mandatory law. That means your employer has to comply with the law that requires them to have workers compensation coverage. An employer can comply by one of three ways:
- First, they can buy workers compensation insurance from a private insurance company, Liberty Mutual, Travelers, etc.
- Second, they can insure themselves e.g. Weyerhaeuser, Georgia Pacific, Legacy, etc. and either administer their own claims or hire a company to administer them for them (Pinnacle, Sedgwick, Esis, etc.) or they can buy insurance from SAIF.
(SAIF is a state owned insurance company because it is the "State" doesn't mean anything. It doesn't have any more rights, responsibilities or power than other insurance company in Oregon.) These days employers sometimes go without workers compensation coverage. They are non-complying employers. They have not complied with the law. If you are hurt working for a non-complying employer, no worries, just a few more steps to get the claim going.
How to file a claim
All claims start the same. You give your employer an 801 form that can be found online at the Oregon Workers Compensation Departments website.
You can also fill out a form 827 at the medical providers office. You fill out the top part they fill out the rest send it to your employers workers comp insurer or claims processor, and as the French say; voila' you have filed a claim.
If your employer is a non- complying employer or (NCE) then the claim is send to the Oregon Workers Compensation Division Compliance section . They contact you and determine that you are a covered worker, and your employer should have workers comp insurance and they then send it to their processing company to process it, you are paid benefits out of a state fund. You get the same benefits as if your employer was covered.
For your employer being an NCE is a very bad thing, because they get penalized by the state for not having coverage. They have to pay all the costs of the claim that the state paid. An NCE also loses its immunity from suit. The general rule is that if an employer has workers compensation coverage, they can be as negligent as they want in injuring you and you cannot sue them. You get workers compensation benefits regardless of fault and in return have given up your right to sue your employer.
This Oregon Workers compensation law I am talking about. If you are member of a crew of a vessel you can sue your employer under the Jones Act and the general maritime law for un-seaworthiness. If you are working for a railroad you can sue your employer under the Federal Employers Liability Act or FELA.
So there are exceptions to not being able to sue your employer. There are also some exceptions for workers covered under the Oregon Workers Compensation law that we will discuss in future blogs when your employer intentionally injures you or the employer is negligent in injuring you and your claim is denied because you cannot prove the major contributing cause (51%) was the employment injury or exposure.
