Work Injury 6 min read
Texas is the only state in the country that does not require private employers to carry workers' compensation insurance. Employers who opt out are called non-subscribers, and if you are injured working for one, your case is not a workers' comp claim at all. It is a negligence lawsuit, and it can be worth considerably more, because the legal defenses that normally protect employers are stripped away by statute.
Under the Texas Labor Code, private employers may elect not to carry workers' compensation coverage. Those employers must notify employees and file notice with the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation. Many large retail, restaurant, staffing, warehouse, and construction employers in the Houston area are non-subscribers.
Non-subscribers often provide their own private occupational injury benefit plan instead. Those plans typically pay limited medical and wage benefits and require you to report quickly, use a company-selected doctor, and sometimes sign an arbitration agreement. Reading what you sign matters enormously.
You can confirm your employer's status by asking for their coverage notice or by checking the Division of Workers' Compensation employer coverage lookup.
In a standard workers' compensation claim, an injured worker gives up the right to sue in exchange for no-fault benefits, and non-economic damages are unavailable. Against a non-subscriber, you sue directly for negligence, and Texas Labor Code Section 406.033 removes the employer's three classic defenses: contributory negligence, assumption of the risk, and the fellow servant doctrine.
That is a powerful shift. The employer cannot argue you caused your own injury by being careless, and cannot blame a coworker's mistake. You must still prove the employer was negligent in some respect, such as unsafe equipment, inadequate training, unsafe premises, understaffing, or failure to follow safety rules.
Damages available include full past and future medical expenses, complete lost wages and lost earning capacity, and non-economic damages for pain, disfigurement, and physical impairment, none of which workers' compensation pays.
Report the injury in writing immediately and keep a copy. Non-subscriber benefit plans often impose very short reporting windows, sometimes 24 hours, and a missed deadline is the most common reason benefits are denied.
Get medical care and be precise about how the injury happened at work. Photograph the equipment, the area, and any hazard involved, and identify coworkers who saw it.
Be careful with paperwork. Non-subscriber plans frequently include arbitration agreements and liability waivers presented as routine onboarding or benefit forms. Have an attorney review anything you are asked to sign after an injury before you sign it.
Houston's economy concentrates risk in warehousing and logistics, petrochemical and refinery support work, commercial construction, oilfield services, restaurants, and retail. The injuries we see most often are falls from height, forklift and machinery incidents, crush injuries, back and shoulder injuries from unsafe lifting, burns, and repetitive trauma.
If a third party contributed, such as an equipment manufacturer, a property owner, or another contractor on site, a separate claim may exist alongside the case against your employer. Those layered claims are frequently where the majority of recovery comes from.
If your employer is a non-subscriber that does not carry workers' compensation, yes. You can sue for negligence, and the employer loses the defenses of contributory negligence, assumption of risk, and fellow servant.
Ask your employer for their coverage notice, check your onboarding paperwork, or use the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation coverage lookup.
Texas law prohibits retaliation for pursuing certain workers' compensation rights, and other protections may apply. Document any adverse action and raise it with your attorney immediately.
Non-subscriber benefit plans often require it to receive plan benefits, but that does not prevent you from seeking your own medical care or pursuing a negligence claim. Get legal advice before agreeing to plan terms.