Workers Comp – What is a Contract Employee?

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Workers Comp – What is a Contract Employee?

It is much more difficult to claim that no employer-employee relationship exists with contract workers than trying to prove a sole proximate cause claim since these claims are rather easily dismissed. Before any work agreement is signed, employers will attempt to show you that you are not an employee, and in the event of a workplace injury, employers will immediately begin to try to convince you that you were never part of their workforce. They use language to confuse the relationship; they hire you as a “contractor,” to show you that you do not have certain rights and protections, yet they have you do all the work of regular employees. If you are somehow harmed or injured in their workplace, they will then be able to argue that they are not liable for your injuries and thus they can avoid paying you compensation. Employers may think that certain employees are contractors, but Texas law may classify you in truth as an employee, with the result that they are in fact liable for injuries and harms you’ve suffered in the workplace. They may in fact be liable for your medical expenses and lost and lost future wages. More Information Here

So that an injured worker can receive compensation for his or her injuries, the harmed employee in this situation also carries the burden of proof to establish an employer-employee relationship. A skilled, aggressive, and experienced workers’ compensation attorney has access to over twenty years experience to help you prove that an employer-employee relationship existed with your non-subscriber employer and our Law Office workers’ comp lawyers can help you receive full and fair compensation that is your right. More Information here

Texas law holds you to be an employee if one or a few of the following conditions are met:

The employer in question withholds taxes and Social Security from your paycheck.
The employer in question provides all the necessary equipment for your work.
The employer in question expects you to abide by a specific work schedule and work for defined periods of time.
The employer in question managed, guided and inspected your work during your work shift.
The employer in question has you give up some of your traditional employee rights by signing a document or contract you to mandatory drug testing or signing a confirmation that you’ve received and read an employee handbook.
The employer in question has hired you for an indefinite period of time and not just for a single job.
The employer in question pays you an hourly wage or salary and not on a case-by-case basis.
Our Law Office workers’ compensation attorneys will depose and interview your coworkers and examine any material evidence that can establish the existence of an employer-employee relationship–whether our attorneys have to comb through employment contracts, pay stubs, time cards, and other forms of solid evidence.

OSHA Cannot Help You
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA is a federal government agency charged with setting minimum safety standards for all employers in the United States. OSHA’s mandate is valuable; it is to ensure the health and safety of employees in the workplace by updating standards and punishing employers for violating federal health and safety regulations. OSHA’s mandate however, is very limited in scope and it can provide no assistance to you in the event of a workplace accident or injury. OSHA suffers from limited resources and budget constraints, so its investigative ability is hampered and diminished, and its enforcement regime is long outdated. OSHA generally does not arrive at workplace accident sites until long after the incident or injury has happened, and its federally determined fines for employers have not been increased in decades. These facts do not give employers incentive to improve the safety of working conditions.

OSHA’s only influence is in helping employers avoid future accidents and injuries by providing regulations and guidelines after the fact. After an accident or injury has occurred, OSHA investigators will write a report with recommendations to improve workplace safety, and then follow up on the employer’s actions to follow OSHA’s recommendations. OSHA’s report will contain no specific evidence of aid to you and OSHA does not rule on accident liability as such. OSHA’s sole focus is to improve the safety and health of workplace conditions.

Simply stated, OSHA’s mandate is not to help you prove your case and secure you your rightful and fair compensation. Only a workers’ compensation lawyer can help you seek and receive the necessary compensation you need to recover and rebuild your life.

What Can I Do?
It is critical that you do not sign away your right to take legal action in exchange for the minimal compensation you will be offered. As we just mentioned, most employers and their insurance carriers will try to convince or manipulate you into taking an insignificant settlement offer. You should not even discuss your accident with your employer or his insurance carrier without the presence of your attorney.

It is of the utmost importance that you move quickly to find a reputable attorney so that he or she can begin to gather and examine all available evidence. The usefulness and integrity of evidence begin to decay quickly immediately after an accident happens: witnesses lose memory, surveillance video gets erased or reused, pay stubs and accident logs get thrown away or lost, broken machinery or blood gets fixed or cleaned up; the list is endless. If you wait too long to retain the services of an attorney, you could be doing incalculable harm to your case and claim, and you may lose the ability to receive your full and fair compensation.

The workers’ comp attorneys at our Law Office have been aiding injured Texans receive the compensation that is their right for over twenty years. We have a reputation for protecting our client’s rights and helping them to receive their rightful compensation for their injuries and losses.

In order to determine whether your employer is a subscriber or non-subscriber, and/or if Texas law considers you an employee and what your potential worker’s rights are, call us toll-free for a free consultation and to discuss your potential legal alternatives and to let you know if we can help you to begin to rebuild your life.