If you work in Texas, and your employer doesn’t subscribe to Workers’ Compensation insurance, you may still have legal options following a workplace injury — most commonly, injured workers may file a personal injury claim against their non-subscriber employers as the most direct way to pursue compensation.
If your employer does not carry workers’ compensation insurance, you may still have options after a workplace injury. In fact, Texas law may allow you to pursue a personal injury claim against a non-subscriber employer — and a Houston work injury attorney at Amaro Law Firm can help you understand which options may apply to your situation.
Contact a personal injury attorney from Amaro Law Firm today to discuss your case.
Not always. Texas is unusual because most private employers are not required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Private employers can choose to provide workers’ compensation coverage or become what Texas calls a non-subscriber.
There are exceptions. For example, Texas governmental entities generally must provide workers’ compensation coverage. Private employers can also qualify as certified self-insurers rather than purchasing a traditional insurance policy.
Employers that do not carry workers’ compensation insurance must notify their employees that they do not have coverage and report their non-subscriber status to the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. This distinction matters if you are injured at work.
In Texas, workers’ compensation non-subscriber employers are more common than many workers realize. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, 24% of Texas private-sector employers were non-subscribers in 2024, representing approximately 13% of private-sector employees.
If you are injured while working for a non-subscriber, you may have several potential avenues for recovering compensation.
Some non-subscriber employers offer an employee benefit plan designed to provide benefits after an occupational injury. Some of these plans may be governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA.
At first, this can sound similar to workers’ compensation: you get injured, submit a claim, and the plan pays certain benefits. But there can be significant differences.
That is why you should not assume that an employer’s injury benefit plan is equivalent to workers’ compensation — or that accepting plan benefits resolves all of your legal options.
If you receive plan documents after a workplace injury, keep them and have them reviewed before signing away potential rights.
If your employer’s injury benefit plan is covered by ERISA, you may also have the option of contacting the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).
EBSA’s Benefits Advisors assist workers with complaints involving alleged ERISA violations. In appropriate cases, EBSA may contact the employer or plan administrator and attempt to resolve the problem informally. This can be useful when an employer or plan administrator is failing to follow ERISA requirements.
However, an EBSA complaint is generally not the fastest way to pursue compensation for an individual workplace injury. EBSA is a federal agency enforcing ERISA; it does not simply step into a personal injury lawsuit and seek all of the damages an injured worker may have available.
EBSA complaints can also become particularly valuable when multiple employees are experiencing similar problems with the same plan, employer, or service provider. The Department of Labor specifically notes that individual complaints can lead to enforcement activity when there are repeated complaints or evidence of significant ERISA violations.
For a one-off workplace injury where the primary concern is recovering compensation for your injuries, an individual legal claim may be a more direct avenue.
For many injured employees, a personal injury claim against a non-subscriber employer may be the most direct and effective way to pursue compensation.
Texas Labor Code § 406.033 allows an employee who is not covered by workers’ compensation insurance to bring an action against the employer for personal injuries sustained in the course and scope of employment. The employee must prove negligence by the employer or the employer’s agent, but certain defenses — including contributory negligence, assumption of risk, and negligence by a fellow employee — are not available to the non-subscriber employer.
A personal injury claim may allow you to seek damages that go beyond whatever benefits an employer’s occupational injury plan provides. Depending on the facts of the case, damages may include medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses recognized under Texas law.
Because a personal injury claim can provide a more direct path toward pursuing full compensation, it is important to speak with an attorney before accepting benefits, signing a release, or agreeing to a settlement.
If the insurance company calls, be careful about what you say and what you agree to. If your employer is a non-subscriber, the person calling you may be handling an occupational injury benefit plan rather than traditional workers’ compensation. They may ask questions about the accident, your symptoms, your medical treatment, or your ability to work.
You should be truthful, but you do not need to guess about facts you do not know or minimize your injuries. Before providing a recorded statement, signing documents, or agreeing to anything that could affect your legal rights, consider speaking with a work injury attorney.
An attorney can review the circumstances of your accident, determine whether your employer is a non-subscriber, review any applicable benefit plan, and help you understand what you may be entitled to pursue.
Do not assume that a quick settlement is a good settlement. After an injury, you may be facing medical bills, missed work, and uncertainty about how long your recovery will take. A settlement offer can be tempting, particularly when you need money immediately.
But it may be difficult to determine the full value of your claim before you understand the extent of your injuries and future losses. Once you accept a settlement and sign a release, you may give up the ability to pursue additional compensation.
Before accepting a quick settlement, have an attorney review the offer and the documents you are being asked to sign. A work injury lawyer can help you understand what the settlement covers, what rights you may be giving up, and whether the proposed amount reasonably addresses your losses.
It depends on your health insurance policy and the circumstances of your injury. If your employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, your health insurance may initially pay for some medical treatment, subject to the terms of your policy. That does not necessarily mean your health insurance is responsible for all of your injury-related expenses.
You may also have an occupational injury benefit plan through your employer, or you may have a potential personal injury claim against the employer or another responsible party.
Because these different sources of insurance coverage can complicate your claim, keep your medical bills, insurance statements, explanation-of-benefits documents, and other records related to your treatment.
In Texas, the general statute of limitations for a personal injury lawsuit is two years from the date the cause of action accrues. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003 establishes this general two-year limitations period for personal injury claims.
However, the exact deadline for your case can depend on the facts and the type of claim involved. Other deadlines may also apply to benefit-plan claims, administrative complaints, or claims against other parties.
Do not wait until the deadline is approaching to speak with an attorney. Evidence can disappear, witnesses’ memories can fade, and important documents can become more difficult to obtain.
Retaliation can take many forms, including firing an employee, reducing hours, disciplining an employee, making false accusations, or attempting to damage the employee’s reputation or future employment opportunities.
But an important distinction is necessary: not every unfair or unpleasant action by an employer creates a legal claim that a personal injury attorney can pursue.
An Amaro Law Firm attorney can help determine whether the conduct appears connected to your workplace injury claim and whether it falls within the firm’s legal services. If the issue requires employment-law representation outside the scope of a personal injury case, you may need to refer your case to a lawyer who focuses specifically on employment law.
If your employer does not carry workers’ compensation insurance, that does not mean you have to handle your injury alone or accept whatever benefits your employer offers.
You may have rights that are very different from those of an employee covered by traditional workers’ compensation, including the potential right to pursue a personal injury claim against a negligent employer.
The sooner you understand those rights, the better positioned you may be to protect them.
If you were injured at work and your employer is a Texas workers’ compensation non-subscriber, contact Amaro Law Firm online or call us at (713) 999-4674 to discuss your options with a work injury attorney.
James Amaro
Founder and Attorney
James Amaro founded the Amaro Law Firm in 2005 to help people and businesses facing life-changing losses hold negligent parties accountable. Over the last 20 years, James Amaro has earned an outstanding reputation nationwide as a highly skilled attorney and a tenacious trial lawyer in personal injury cases, business disputes, insurance claims, hurricane claims, and commercial litigation.
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