O’Reilly Auto Parts Workers’ Compensation Claims in Houston

Whether you are a route driver, warehouse worker, manager, or employee at one of its almost 6,000 retail stores, O’Reilly Auto Parts dominates the market with stores in 47 states. In almost all states, employers must purchase workers’ compensation insurance to offer employees benefits if they are injured or become ill because of their jobs. Texas is not one of those states.

Workers’ compensation benefits pay employees’ medical bills and replace a portion of wages lost recuperating from a job-related injury. But in Texas, employers can devise their own programs to compensate injured workers. They can self-insure or look for less expensive insurance coverage. When employers opt out of workers’ compensation, they are called non-subscribers, directly affecting your O’Reilly Auto Parts workers’ compensation claims in Houston.

Workers’ Compensation vs. Non-Subscriber

By electing non-subscriber status, O’Reilly management can keep tighter tabs on workplace accidents and injuries that occur most regularly, allowing them to implement better safety programs. For example, if employees often fall while retrieving parts from high shelves, reconfiguring the shelving may help, or equipping stores with more reacher-grabber tools may reduce accidents. Other benefits and drawbacks of non-subscriber status include:

• O’Reilly Auto Parts can pay replacement wages and medical bills directly and more quickly to the employee instead of through an insurer with government oversight that is common for workers’ compensation
• O’Reilly employees can sue the company for negligence if they fail to pay medical bills and lost wages, while employers cannot be sued under workers’ compensation
• Death benefits are usually not available from non-subscribers but they are under workers’ compensation
• Non-subscriber employees must prove an employer’s negligence caused the accident if the employer fails to pay benefits, forcing the issue to court, and the company can counter by accusing the employee of causing the entire accident, while workers’ compensation does not assign blame

Under Texas Labor Code § 406.033, non-subscriber employers cannot try to shirk their duty to compensate injured employees by claiming that the employee contributed to the negligence, another employee caused the accident, or the employee assumed the risk of injury. An O’Reilly Auto Parts workers’ compensation attorney in Houston should handle disputes heading to litigation.

Valid Defenses in O’Reilly Auto Parts Non-Subscriber Lawsuits

Although non-subscribers who dispute a compensation claim after a workplace accident cannot raise certain defenses, they can raise others. If the employee asserts the employer’s negligence caused the accident, the employer can point out the employee was drunk on the job, intentionally injured themselves, signed a post-injury waiver, or was harmed by a known hazard so the employer did not have a duty to warn.

Non-subscriber employers can raise additional defenses . If the injury results from a pre-existing condition or occurred outside the scope of employment, the court may find the employee is not entitled to benefits. A Houston workers’ compensation claims attorney could explain why proving negligence is central to any injury claim involving an O’Reilly Auto Parts worker.

Ask Us About O’Reilly Auto Parts Workers’ Compensation Claims in Houston

O’Reilly Auto Parts is in a similar position to other large retailers, such as Walmart and Home Depot, which have the option of not providing workers’ comp for their team members. While traditional workers’ compensation insurance is more costly and involves more oversight causing payout delays, employees at non-subscriber workplaces must rely on the employer, instead of a neutral claim administrator, to get paid.

You must also file a lawsuit and prove your employer’s negligence caused your accident if they refuse to pay your medical bills and lost wages. And although there are defenses your employer cannot raise against you, there are others that are fair game. If you are injured as an employee in a non-subscriber work environment, an O’Reilly Auto Parts workers’ compensation claim in Houston is your best option. Call us for more information.