Season Farm Help and Workers Compensation: Here’s what you should know

Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that the fatality rate among farmers, agricultural managers, and ranchers was 24 persons per 100,000 full-time equivalent employees. This is a total of 5,147 fatal occupation injuries in a year (2017). Read on to know more about states that require, and those don’t require farmworkers' compensation.
You have probably heard that farming is one of the dangerous occupations you can undertake. Yet, very few states across the country require that seasonal farmworkers be provided with workers’ compensation, the most basic of insurance.

Farm workers compensation

As of August 2019, only 13 states required organizations to provide workers’ insurance for their agricultural employees. These states include Montana, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Oregon, Ohio, and Massachusetts. This form of insurance is also required in Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands.

There are 15 states that don’t require the provision of workers’ compensation insurance for seasonal, migrant, or farm workers. These states include Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia, North Dakota, Delaware, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Nevada, and Mississippi. 

In other states, workers’ compensation coverage is limited to people employed in specialty jobs, full-time workers, those working in large farms, or workers limited to a number of work of hours. For employers who hire temporary migrant workers under the H-2A, a temporary agricultural program must provide workers’ compensation insurance or its equivalents to their employees.

Did you know?

In the early 1900s, there was a considerable level of discussions and lawyering regarding the requirement of workers compensation insurance for injured or sick workers. Some laws were passed and subsequently declared constitutional in some states. The initial amendments happened in Wisconsin (1911), and nine more states followed within the same year.

Mississippi was the last to enact similar laws in 1948. Much of the increased need to implement workers’ compensation laws were prompted by the need for a proper response following a series of disasters in some states.

Farm employer’s liability

This section of the workers’ compensation insurance makes it clear that the insurer will respond when the insured is ‘legally required to pay as damages due to bodily harm to which the policy applies.” The injuries must have caused by an event sustained by the worker and should arise in the course of the worker’s official duties. That means the worker must have been handling their duties when they got injured.

There are specific exclusions that you should know. For instance, the worker may not seek exemplary or punitive damages. Therefore, it’s best to consult with an experienced lawyer if you are a farmworker, and you intend to pursue workers’ compensation benefits.

Medical payments

According to this separate insurance agreement, the insurance company will pay ‘all reasonable healthcare expenses to which the workers’ compensation coverage applies’ for injuries to a farmworker who sustains injuries due to accidents in the workplace. As mentioned earlier, the injuries should arise out of and in the worker’s course of employment.

Regardless of who was at fault, the injured worker is entitled to reasonable compensation for medical expenses within three years of the date of the event that caused the injuries.

Wrap up

Some states require farmworkers to carry workers’ compensation insurance, others don’t. If you provide seasonal help to farmers and agricultural institutions, try to find out if your employer is required by the law to have workers’ compensation insurance. It’s also wise to consult with an attorney if you intend to seek workers’ compensation.