The Workers Compensation program is usually a state run program that provides compensation under a statutory plan to employees who are injured or disabled in the workplace. The program provides assistance to employees who are harmed by their employment, even if they are at fault, by paying the individual a percentage of their wages and covering medical expenses for accidental injuries, illnesses and deaths that result from employment. 

Workers Compensation also limits the employee’s recovery so that employers are not subject to open-ended damages for injuries that might otherwise give rise to a personal injury lawsuit. Each state has different requirements.

• http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/statutes/owcp/stwclaw/stwclaw.htm

• http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/workers_compensation.html