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Can You Receive Workers’ Compensation For a Death?

Can You Receive Workers’ Compensation For a Death

When someone dies while at work in Vermont, it is a tragedy for all parties involved. While workplace deaths used to be more common, modern laws such as OSHA and the Vermont Workers’ Compensation Act have helped to make the workplace much safer. Unfortunately, workplace accidents and deaths do still happen, so it’s important to know what you’re entitled to if you lose a loved one while they’re working.

 

Proving Responsibility

Vermont law dictates exactly what death benefits a worker’s family is entitled to from the employer and/or their insurance. If it can be proven that the workers death was caused by their work, the Vermont Workers’ Compensation Act will provide benefits to the worker’s spouse as well as any dependent children. Proving this can be simple if the death was due to a fall or clear accident, but other times it can be death from a heart attack outside of the workplace or cancer caused by a chemical used at work, which makes it much more difficult to prove.

 

Benefit Details

Vermont law requires the employer’s insurance to cover the cost of burial and funeral expenses, up to $10,000. Then additional benefits will be determined depending on what the worker was earning prior to their death and if they had a spouse, dependent children, the number of children, as well as other dependents such as parents, etc.

Contacting workers’ comp lawyer in Vermont can help you navigate this confusing territory and ensure you get the benefits you deserve.