What Happens If You’re Injured While Working for a Small Business?

If you get injured while working for a small business in Texas, who takes care of you? The answer to this question depends on your circumstances. Your employer may be responsible for your medical bills and related wage losses or other financial damages, and you might have the right to seek these benefits through a workers’ compensation claim or a lawsuit. 

The Zimmerman Law Firm, P.C., helps injured workers understand their options and pursue the care and financial support they need after a work injury.

In this post, we walk you through what happens when you are injured while working and what you can do to protect your interests. If you need help with your claim, contact us as soon as possible.

What Is Workers’ Compensation?

Workers’ compensation is insurance that helps employees injured on the job. It can cover medical care and lost wages if you suffer a work-related injury or illness. To receive coverage, your injury must arise out of and in the course of your work. If your injury qualifies, you may be entitled to benefits without needing to prove your employer did anything wrong.

This system is designed to provide support quickly. In exchange, employees usually cannot sue their employer.

What Benefits Can You Receive?

If you’re injured while working for a small business and your employer carries workers’ compensation insurance, you may qualify for several types of benefits. The benefits you can receive might include the following.

Medical Benefits

Workers’ compensation covers reasonable and necessary medical care related to your injury. These expenses can include doctor visits, hospital care, medications, and rehabilitation.

Income Benefits

If your injury prevents you from working, you may receive income benefits. These can include:

• Temporary Income Benefits—paid to help replace lost wages while you recover;
• Impairment Income Benefits—paid if your injury results in permanent impairment;
• Supplemental Income Benefits—paid for long-term disability when you cannot return to your previous job or a job that pays at least 80% of your previous earnings; and
• Lifetime Income Benefits—paid for severe, permanent injuries.

These benefits depend on the severity of your injuries and whether you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI does not mean that you are cured, but it typically means that there is no reasonable expectation of further recovery from your injury.

Death Benefits

If a worker dies from a job-related injury, surviving family members may receive benefits, including a percentage of the worker’s wages. These benefits may provide stability during a difficult time.

Am I Entitled to Workers’ Compensation If I’m Injured While Working for a Small Business?

It depends. Small, private businesses typically do not have an obligation to carry workers’ compensation insurance in Texas unless all or part of their business comes from a government contract. However, an employer may choose workers’ compensation coverage to avoid personal injury lawsuits.

How Do You File a Workers’ Compensation Claim If You’re Injured While Working?

If your employer has coverage, you must act quickly to claim benefits. Texas law sets deadlines for reporting injuries and requesting benefits.

Step 1: Confirm Whether Your Employer Has Coverage

When you get hired, your employer must let you know whether it has workers’ compensation insurance. It must also post coverage notices throughout the workplace. If you do not remember your employer’s coverage status and cannot find information where you work, you can confirm your employer’s status through the Texas Department of Insurance.

Step 2: Report the Injury

If your employer has workers’ compensation coverage, you must notify your employer within 30 days of getting injured while working. And if you developed an occupational disease from your work, you need to notify your employer within 30 days of when you should have known your disease was work-related. Waiting too long to give notice can affect your right to benefits.

Step 3: File a Claim for Compensation

To help ensure that you receive compensation, you must file a claim for compensation with the Division of Workers’ Compensation within one year of your injury. Filing a claim usually involves completing a DWC Form-041.

Step 4: Seek Medical Care

To receive care, you may need to see a doctor within your employer’s approved network. You should also follow all medical advice to support your recovery and maintain accurate records of your condition.

Step 5: Follow the Process

You may need to attend medical evaluations, follow work restrictions, and provide documentation to continue receiving benefits. The process can feel overwhelming, especially when you are trying to recover. 

Our team can guide you through each step and help you avoid common mistakes that could affect your benefits.

How Do You File a Work Injury Claim in Small Businesses Without Workers’ Compensation?

If your employer does not carry workers’ compensation insurance, the claim process is very different. Instead of filing a workers’ compensation claim, you may have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer.

To succeed, you must prove your employer’s negligence or another form of misconduct. To prove negligence, you must prove that:

• Your employer had a duty of care toward you,
• Your employer failed to meet its duty,
• That failure caused your injury, and
• You suffered actual harm as a result.

Unlike workers’ compensation, a lawsuit can allow you to recover a broader range of damages, such as damages for pain and suffering. Even if your employer does have workers’ compensation insurance, you may still have the right to file a lawsuit. You may retain your right to sue if you give written notice of waiving coverage and retaining your rights within five days of getting hired or receiving written notice about your employer’s new coverage status. 

There are time limits for filing a lawsuit; in most cases, you have two years from the date of the injury to file.

You Don’t Have to Handle This Alone

Whether you have questions about a work injury claim in small businesses or large workplaces in Texas, it’s normal to feel uncertain about what comes next. 

The Zimmerman Law Firm has decades of experience and provides personal attention to each client to ensure we meet their needs. Contact our workers’ compensation lawyers at The Zimmerman Law Firm, P.C. today to schedule a free consultation. We’ll help you understand your options and take the next steps with confidence. 

Legal References Used to Inform This Page

To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:

• Liability for Compensation, Tex. Lab. Code § 406.031 (1993).
• Coverage generally elective, Tex. Lab. Code § 406.002 (1993).
• Exclusive remedy; exemplary damages, Tex. Lab. Code § 408.001 (2005).
• Entitlement to medical benefits, Tex. Lab. Code § 408.021 (1993).
• Income benefits, Tex. Lab. Code § 408.081 (2011).
• Definition: Maximum Medical Improvement, Tex. Lab. Code §401.011(30) (2009).
• Death benefits, Tex. Lab. Code §408.181 (2005).
• Texas Department of Insurance, “Workers’ compensation insurance guide.”
• Texas Department of Insurance,  “Workers’ compensation insurance coverage verification.”
• Notice of injury to employer, Tex. Lab. Code §409.001 (1993).
• Claim for compensation, Tex. Lab. Code §409.003 (2005).
• Employee’s Claim for Compensation, DWC Form-041.
• Employee waiver of insurance coverage, Tex. Lab. Code §406.034 (2011).
• Two-year limitations period, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.003 (2005).

Michael Zimmerman

Michael was born in Houston, Texas. His education at Baylor and Texas State Universities earned him a Bachelor of Science degree in 1987. His major was in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry. He finished his legal education at Texas Southern University in 1990, earning a Juris Doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1990.

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