Online Class: Workers' Compensation 101

The history of Workers' Compensation dates back literally thousands of years, to the beginning of written history. Workers' Compensation regulation and laws appear today in virtually all industrialized nations although laws governing workers have changed dramatically throughout history, and the United States is certainly no exception. 

The concept of Workers' Compensation can be found even in antiquity. The peoples of ancient Greece and Rome had very specific rules and regulations that outlined how people should be compensated due to injuries suffered in the course of their employment. While many people today seem to think our sets of laws and regulations are mind-numbingly precise and detailed, it should be noted that even ancient peoples had very precise schedules that governed the levels of compensation for each worker. For example, in ancient Arab law, the loss of a thumb was worth exactly one-half the value of an entire finger. 

As time progressed toward the Middle Ages and feudalism became the prevailing form of government, the specificity of the ancient laws governing Workers' Compensation were replaced with a more localized system. In the Middle Ages, the fate of workers was left chiefly to the feudal lords who were to care for their workers. Each of them made up their own guidelines for the compensation of workers who suffered an injury while under their employment. Naturally, some lords were more benevolent than others and the uniformity of the ancient laws governing Workers' Compensation gave way to a more localized, and chaotic, set of rules in the Middle Ages. It was not until the Renaissance period, roughly beginning in the 14^th century, that labor laws were updated to include more uniform Workers' Compensation regulations.

Beginning in the Renaissance period, and leading up to the Industrial Revolution, or approximately the late 18^th century, there were three main principles that governed compensation for injured workers. These were contributory negligence, the "fellow servant rule," and the assumption of risk. 

Contributory negligence meant that if a worker contributed to his or her own injury, due to careless use of a machine, for example, the employer was not responsible for the injury. This principle was intact even if the working conditions were less than satisfactory or if the worker was using particularly dangerous machinery. Similarly, if a worker was responsible for the upkeep of any machinery and responsible for maintaining its safe use, any injury due to a malfunction of such machinery could not be blamed on an employer.  

The "fellow servant" rule was put in place to state that an employer was not to be held liable if an injury to a worker was due to a colleague, or a fellow worker. 

The assumption of risk concept was simply that certain workers knew the inherent dangers of certain jobs. It stated that when workers signed their contracts to be employed by an employer, they released the employer from any liability resulting from an injury on the job. Employers were required to provide safety measures but, until modern times, these measures were usually wholly inadequate.

These three principles, when looked at through the context of modern history, seem extremely unfair and, indeed, they were regarded as unfair by many employees during the time periods in which they were enforced. The only recourse a worker had during these times was litigation. In those times, as well as in today's society, legal matters were extremely costly. Additionally, it was extremely difficult for a worker to win any compensation at all. Professional workers, and those with higher levels of education and money, were able to buy a primitive form of disability insurance. As more and more workers became accustomed to bringing lawsuits against their employers, many employers began to criticize the current state of laws and joined the workers in calling for reforms. 

A major change in Workers' Compensation laws began in Prussia in 1871 with the passage of the Employers' Liability Law, which provided some protection to workers in certain sectors of employment. These sectors included such venues as factories and mines. The law was the initiative of Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. In future years, Bismarck also instituted such initiatives as the Workers' Accident Insurance of 1884 which is generally regarded as the first doctrine of modern day Workers' Compensation. Additionally, he started a pension system for workers who were injured in non-job related incidents. It provided a small pension for those unable to work due to an injury as well as those who were never able to work due to certain disabilities. A very important concept of these laws was the protection employers enjoyed from worker lawsuits. The state run laws provided the only recourse for workers who were injured and, in many instances, lawsuits became unnecessary.

As time progressed, countries in the West began to embrace the notion of Workers' Compensation and enacted laws that protected, in essence, both the worker and the employer. The initiative of Otto von Bismarck served as a model for these laws. In 1880, there were laws enacted in England to establish workers' rights, but they were generally regarded as inadequate. It was not until 1897 when the British Parliament passed the Workers' Compensation Act, which provided stringent laws governing workers' rights. It established the right of private companies to provide insurance for workers, unlike the Prussian model which was entirely run by the government. 

The Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, was the first federal program that provided workers with compensation due to injuries sustained in non-job-related incidents. Like the pension model in Prussia, it also provided for benefits for people who were never able to work due to a disability.