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Being a farmer or an agricultural worker, you are a critical component of California's food supply. Working on farms to meet the community's crop, poultry, and livestock needs sufficiently requires long working hours, harsh physical labor in sometimes extreme weather, and exposure to certain dangers unknown to other industries. For example, you may get injured through agricultural tools and machinery, get exposed to hazardous pesticides and chemicals meant for crops & livestock, and develop lifestyle diseases from chronic stress or fatigue, or both.
Luckily, the farm accident lawyers from the Law Office of Joseph Pluta are available 24/7 to address the legal needs of all agricultural workers. Whether you need medical compensation, lost wages from work, or resolve disputes arising from your job status, we can leverage our expertise to get you your compensation and justice.
Take a quick peek at some common causes of farm work mishaps to see whether you've been caught up in one. If they sound familiar, you'd likely need legal assistance for recovery.
While agriculture may be a rewarding livelihood, it isn’t immune to its fair share of occupational hazards. If the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data from 2021 is to be considered, agricultural workers’ injuries, despite being underreported, amounted to nearly 32 every day, where 453 totaled those from agriculture, fishing, hunting, private industry sector, and forestry. If you or a loved one has been caught in a farm accident, you may recognize one of the following.
While all the farm accidents above may or may not occur due to a worker's carelessness, sometimes product defects in farm machinery may be to blame. Regardless, since workers' compensation is a no-fault system in California, you can still get compensation for your injury or illness. You must contact The Law Office of Joseph Pluta immediately to get expert legal counsel on your case.
Whether you are a seasonal, casual, or temporary worker in one of California's numerous farms, you are just as entitled to a full-time worker's rights and other legal protections.
Employers must provide workers' compensation to their farm workers, where failing to do so may result in $10,000 in fines, one year in jail, or both. Additionally, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in California will issue a stop order on using farm labor until the provision of workers' compensation is implemented. If the employer still does not comply, then they may face up to another year in jail, $50000 in fines, or both.
Apart from ensuring workers' compensation insurance, employers must also report the accurate number of employees working on their farms, correctly classify their type of business, and not make false claims about their employee's nature of work, for example, by labeling them as independent contractors instead of part-time or full-time workers.
After a farm accident, insurance companies offer lowball amounts for the following to resolve the case quickly:
| Injuries | Non Physical Damages |
|---|---|
| Broken bones | Lost income |
| Traumatic brain injuries | Loss of earning potential |
| Severe scarring or burns | Loss of bodily function |
| Internal hemorrhaging | Emotional distress |
| Loss of limb or appendage | Pain and suffering |
| Cancer and other pesticide-related illnesses | Current and future medical expenses |
| Renovation and relocation costs to accommodate a permanent disability |
Our farm accident lawyers know that knowledge is power in demanding the rightful compensation for a farm accident case. Therefore, it would benefit you immensely if you learn about the potential legal remedies available in your situation:
Workers' Compensation Lawsuit:
Awarded to those injured in a farm accident, this no-fault compensation system provides a baseline payout for medical expenses and wage loss, regardless of another's negligence.
Personal Injury Lawsuit:
This lawsuit empowers victims to demand higher compensation for physical and emotional damages, depending on another actor's negligence or wilful misconduct. The case must be duly proved through incriminating evidence.
In a rare case when you may not qualify for workers' compensation, or you feel it won't be enough to cover your damage, you can pursue a third-party liability case involving someone else's negligence to get justice:
Determining fault in a personal injury lawsuit can be done best by an experienced and knowledgable lawyer, such as someone from The Law Office of Joseph Pluta.
Wrongful Death Lawsuit:
If a farm accident results in the death of a worker, their family can sue
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a work-related injury or illness is "an event or exposure in the work environment [that] either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness."
According to the California Labor Code, workers on California's farms, including undocumented migrant workers, are entitled to workers' compensation. All farm employers in California must provide reasonable coverage to employees injured or ill due to their work, some of which are:
To cover all necessary medical expenses associated with treating the work-related injury. This may include emergency room visits, diagnostic procedures, surgery costs, and prescriptions.
For injuries arising from repetitive physical trauma, one-off medical treatment costs may be insufficient. Thus, workers' compensation may be needed for ongoing therapy and treatment procedures.
Temporary Disability: You may qualify for this disability benefit to help gain income lost during your absence due to ongoing recovery.
Permanent Disability: If, in an extreme case, your disability completely prevents you from working at your previous capacity, you may be eligible for permanent disability compensation. For this, your Primary Treating Physician (PTP) or a qualified medical evaluator (QME) may examine you to declare your disability as permanent.
Payment typically starts within 14 days of the end of the Temporary Disability period after all medical confirmations are complete. Thus, permanent disability benefits last until the payment is made in whole or a reasonable estimate of the total payment is processed.
Employees are eligible to receive a one-time "Return-to-Work Supplement Program" payment. Additionally, employers must help pay for the retraining and reskilling of an employee for an alternative career if:
In the unfortunate event of an employee's death at work, their beneficiaries can receive compensation for funeral costs and other death benefits.
Not all farm workers in all situations are entitled to compensation in California, such as:
With our firm's long history of fighting for the underdog, we understand how harrowing it can be to get justice from a system designed to help farm workers but often falling short due to its complications. Not anymore when you have us by your side.
Find answers to frequently asked questions about our firm for workers' comp lawyers, Bakersfield.
The most common reasons for accidents resulting in the death of a person on farms include vehicle collisions, objects falling, falls from heights, injuries caused by animals, and work involving machines. These scenarios underscore the need for safety during the operation of agricultural vehicles, fall protection while working at elevations, sensitivity when dealing with animals, and the necessity of protective guards when operating machinery.
Farm work has always been a risky job. It is all about working under adverse conditions like poor illumination and adverse weather and using big and heavy equipment. Visitors, trespassers, and other individuals near a farm property, as well as workers, are vulnerable to risks posed by farm animals, commodities, and farm activities. Farming also involves handling machinery and equipment that are usually high-risk; in some cases, faulty machinery may cause death or serious injuries. Thus, there is a need to introduce controlled facilities and procedures. Episodes include a cow kicking a worker, road accidents caused by farm animals running on the road, falling from a tractor or combine or any other dangerous machines used in the countryside, and mesh over slips.
Severe farm accidents occur due to tractor rollover, which is quite usual. This happens because tractors have so much weight at the top that when they operate on steep slopes, they quickly lose their balance and turn over, and the driver keeps crashing. This is why it is necessary to be careful while operating any heavy machinery, such as tractors, on a farm.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States says that the significant occupational dangers on a farm include injury from animal bites and animal excrement, affected lung air sacs from working around hay and grains, exposure to harmful chemicals, physical injury from farm equipment breakdowns and unsafe work practices and heat-related illnesses such as sunstroke due to hot weather.
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