Same law, different job — different traps.
Workers' comp reads differently depending on what you do. Construction has the 1099 trap; trucking has the jurisdiction puzzle; restaurants have the tip-wage trap; gig work has the contractor wall; farm work has the exemption itself; first responders have presumptions that flip the burden of proof. Twelve guides — each occupation's real injury patterns and the trap most likely to catch you.
Construction
Falls, struck-by, and the trade's signature problem: workers labeled "contractors" so nobody pays comp — plus the third-party claims hiding on every multi-employer site.
Open the guide → Highest back-injury ratesHealthcare & Nursing
Patient-handling spines, needlestick protocols, workplace violence — and the "degenerative" argument insurers aim at every caregiver's back.
Open the guide → Pace & repetitionWarehouse & Delivery
Quota culture vs. your claim, the temp-agency question (who's your employer?), and the built-over-months injuries of scanning, lifting, and concrete miles.
Open the guide → The jurisdiction puzzleTrucking
Hurt in one state, hired in another, based in a third — plus owner-operator misclassification and the injuries that happen outside the cab.
Open the guide → Sudden & slowManufacturing
Machine injuries with a second defendant (the machine's maker), decades-of-noise hearing claims, and the line's repetitive-trauma toll.
Open the guide → Tips countRestaurant & Service
Burns, cuts, greasy-floor slips — and the AWW trap built into tipped work, plus the extra protections young workers never learn they have.
Open the guide → Slow injuries count tooOffice & Remote
Carpal tunnel, posture spines, and the "that's not a real injury" skepticism — plus when your home office legally is your workplace.
Open the guide → The part-time trapRetail & Grocery
Stocking backs, ladder falls, register violence — and why concurrent jobs and seasonal peaks belong in your wage math.
Open the guide → The exemption trapAgriculture & Farm Work
Machinery, heat, pesticides — in the one industry where coverage isn't guaranteed. What the farm exemption means and the doors it opens.
Open the guide → The contractor wallGig & App Work
Rideshare and delivery injuries: misclassification tests, state driver funds, the app's "injury protection" fine print, and the third-party door.
Open the guide → Presumptions in your favorPolice, Fire & EMS
The laws that presume cancer, heart-lung disease, and PTSD are work-related — plus pension interplay, volunteer coverage, and line-of-duty benefits.
Open the guide → Assault leave & the 10-month trapTeachers & School Staff
Student-behavior injuries, assault-leave laws that pay full salary, and the wage calculation that shorts anyone paid ten months over twelve.
Open the guide →Not sure where you stand? Have a lawyer look — free.
A few quick taps connects you with a licensed workers' comp attorney in your state. No cost, no obligation, no pressure.