Employee viewing HR's Guide to Workers’ Compensation

A Human Resources Guide to Workers’ Compensation Terms

A human resource manager has many duties including recruiting and hiring, serving as a link between employees and management, and evaluating worker performance. Perhaps the most complex issues HR managers deal with concern workers’ compensation insurance. When a worker is injured on the job, HR managers may be required to deal with workers’ compensation administrators, claims adjustors, doctors, and attorneys. Those familiar with workers’ compensation tend to use a collection of abbreviations concerning injuries and claims that can be confusing to those less acquainted. What follows are a few definitions of common workers’ compensation terms every HR manager should become familiar with:

A human resources manager who can identify and understand the terminology of the workers’ compensation insurance industry should be well-suited to actively communicate with all parties involved in his organization’s workers’ compensation insurance claims.


1. J. William Snyder, Jr., “The Math of Workers’ Compensation,” Crumley & Associates, March 7, 2003, www.ibiblio.org/jwsnyder/wisdom/mathofwc.pdf.
2. Vanessa Friedman, “Rehab Solutions,” Self Funding Magazine, January 14, 2011, www.selffundingmagazine.com/article/reduce-workers-comp-claims-through.html.
3. “HR’s Guide to Workers’ Comp,” HR Hero, May 2012, www.hrhero.com.
4. “Independent Medical Examination,” State of Wisconsin, 2013, https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/wc/medical/ime.htm.
5. “Workers’ compensation—Disability benefits: Temporary Total Disability,” Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry, 2013, www.dli.mn.gov/wc/DispBenTtd.asp.
6. “Vocational Rehabilitation and Workers’ Compensation,” Maryland Workers’ Compensation, 2013, www.mdcomplaw.com/info/your-case/vocational-rehabilitation.