Workers' Compensation: US

This Workers' Compensation policy explains how your organization supports employees who experience a job-related injury or illness, including how to report an incident, how workers' comp benefits generally work, and what protections employees have when they raise safety concerns or file a claim. Workers' comp is primarily governed by state law, but it also overlaps with federal workplace safety expectations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and state anti-retaliation rules that protect employees who report injuries or pursue benefits (for example, California Labor Code Section 132a and Texas Labor Code Chapter 451).

The History Behind Workers' Comp Policies in the US

Workers' comp became a standard employer policy because early US workplace injury law pushed most costs onto injured workers, and courts often blocked recovery through defenses like assumption of risk, contributory negligence, and the fellow-servant rule. State lawmakers responded in the early 1900s with no-fault workers' comp systems that traded predictable benefits for limits on lawsuits, and employers gained a clearer, more insurable way to handle injury costs. The Supreme Court upheld these state systems in cases like New York Central Railroad Co. v. White (1917), which helped cement workers' comp as a durable part of the employment deal.

Workers' comp was heavily influenced by modern Health and Safety regulations. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) set nationwide expectations for hazard control and injury reporting, and it increased scrutiny of how employers prevent and respond to workplace harm. States kept running workers' comp, but the OSHA era made the workplace-injury paper trail harder to ignore, and it made consistent reporting and claim handling more important.

State rules added details that employers still manage through policy language, especially around claims, retaliation, and coverage choices. California Labor Code Section 132a made retaliation for filing or intending to file a workers' comp claim unlawful, which forced employers to treat claims as protected activity even when the timing feels inconvenient. Texas took a different path by allowing employers to opt out of workers' comp coverage, but it paired that flexibility with a liability framework in the Texas Labor Code (including provisions in Chapter 451) that makes retaliation claims and injury-related disputes a real risk area for non-subscribers. Either way, employers ended up needing a clear, repeatable process for reporting injuries, coordinating benefits, and ensuring managers have a script when someone gets hurt at work.

Which Law is this Workers' Comp Policy Meant to Comply With?

If you create and distribute a Workers' Compensation Policy for your US-based employees, it should comply with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), California's Labor Code Section 132a, Texas' Texas Labor Code Chapter 451, and any other relevant state laws for states in which you operate.

How to Write a US-Specific Workers' Compensation Policy

• Start with "why" and introduce the concept, explain that workers' compensation supports employees with medical costs and wage replacement for job-related injuries or illnesses.
• Require employees to promptly report any work-related injury or illness, including minor incidents, to protect eligibility for benefits.
• Clarify that workers' compensation benefits are separate from leave, and direct employees to request time off under the applicable leave policy when recovery time is needed.
• Prohibit retaliation or discrimination related to reporting injuries or safety concerns or filing (or attempting to file) a workers' compensation claim.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

The law does not require you to publish a policy or issue a specific notice. That said, you still have to comply with the requirements that apply to you as an employer.

You can comply without putting this in your handbook or otherwise publishing it to employees, but including it usually pays off. A short policy helps employees act quickly, helps HR and managers route reports and claims the right way, and reinforces your organization's commitment to safety and non-retaliation. If you're intentionally keeping your handbook lean, this can live in another easy-to-find policy hub, but make sure employees can actually access it and managers know where to send people.

Other Considerations

The law applies to US employers who have at least 1 employee in the US.

Exceptions

None.