Temporary Worker Injuries On The Rise In Minnesota

If you work a seasonal job or you like to move around a lot, you may often look to find temporary work. There are specific agencies that help place workers into these temporary positions, and it’s a win-win situation for both employee and employer. These positions often require less job-specific work experience, which make them easier to obtain for some workers, and they allow employers to see how a worker handles a position before potentially offering them a longer contract or a full time job.

However, there are also some drawbacks with temporary jobs, one of which being a less-than-stellar track record for employee injuries. Recent statistics have uncovered just how dangerous temp work can be. Today, we take a closer look at temporary work injuries in Minnesota, and how you can obtain compensation if you are hurt while working a temp job.

Temporary Worker Injury Rates

Injury claims for temporary workers in Minnesota have skyrocketed in recent years. There were roughly 400 injury claims from temp workers in Minnesota in 2009, and that number shot up to nearly 1,000 claims in 2013 and 2014, accounting for 4.5 percent of all injury claims in the state (Data for 2015 and beyond is not yet available).

Here are some other statistics about temporary worker injuries in Minnesota over the past decade:

Nearly half of the injured temp workers were under the age of 35. That’s much higher than across all industries, where 29 percent of injured workers are under the age of 25.

Temporary workers, expectedly, are injured much earlier in their job tenure than other workers, as 55 percent are injured within the first three months, compared to just 11 percent in other industries.

1 in 5 workers injured within the first 10 days on the job is a temp worker.

86 percent of temp worker injuries come in two specific industries – transportation/material moving companies and production companies.

Female workers are less likely to be injured in a temp field, as female temp workers account for 28 percent of all temp injuries, while females account for 37 percent of work injuries across all industries.

Filling For Injury Benefits As A Temporary Worker In Minnesota

If you’ve been injured while completing temp work, it is important to remember that you are entitled to workers’ compensation. We’ve seen situations where the employer tried to pressure the temp worker from filing for compensation by implying that doing so would cost them their job, which aside from being shady, is downright illegal.

As a temp worker, you are protected under Minnesota’s workers’ compensation law so long as you are employed by a company and not a volunteer, so if you are receiving compensation for your work, there’s a good chance you are covered. Don’t fall for the pressure techniques that some temp job employers may try to unjustly put on their employees. Your best bet is to contact a Minnesota workers’ compensation lawyer.

Dean Margolis is a workers’ compensation lawyer who has earned compensation claims for temporary workers in the past, and he can help you in your time of need. You are entitled to compensation for your injuries, so let Dean go to work for you while you focus on your recovery. We don’t take a fee unless we win, so our interests are directly aligned with yours, and we’ll do everything in our power to get you the biggest compensation award possible. To learn more about how we’ll work to do this, or to talk to Dean about your case, contact his office today.