Real Estate Agent and Broker Injuries on the Job

Real estate agents can sustain many different types of injuries on the job in South Florida, from injuries resulting from in-town and long-distance business travel to injuries in the office. Indeed, although you might not think about real estate agents as having particularly hazardous work duties, given that this profession requires a wide range of tasks, there are actually an accompanying range of injury risks on the job. Since many real estate agents are employed by real estate companies, they are often eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. In general, under Florida law, any non-construction industry employer with four or more employees is required to have workers’ compensation coverage for employees who sustain work-related injuries, and that requirement means that most real estate agencies are in fact required to provide workers’ compensation coverage to their employed real estate agents.

Our Pompano Beach workers’ compensation lawyers can tell you more about real estate work injuries and how to seek compensation through the Florida workers’ compensation system.

Learning More About Real Estate Agency Work

 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), real estate brokers and sales agents perform many different types of tasks, including some that require physical labor (such as walking through and staging homes) and some that require repetitive tasks at desks (such as creating marketing strategies and writing home descriptions). The following are some of the common duties performed by real estate sales agents and brokers that can result in various kinds of work-related injuries:

• Soliciting new clients for buying, selling, and renting properties;
• Providing advice to clients on market conditions, pricing, and mortgage information;
• Researching market conditions and staying up-to-date on mortgage changes and knowledge;
• Advertising properties, including online and in-person;
• Staging homes for sale or rent;
• Traveling to properties to assess them for pricing and staging;
• Taking buyers to see prospective properties in various kinds of locations;
• Mediating sales negotiations; and
• Preparing real estate documents for buying and selling properties, as well as for renting properties.

These tasks can result in injuries due to, for example:

• Car crashes while traveling to properties;
• Slips and falls in the office, or trips and falls at properties; and
• Repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel from office work at the computer.

Contact a Pompano Beach Workers’ Compensation Attorney 

Were you injured on the job while working as a real estate agent? Whether you got hurt while giving a tour of a house or preparing a house for sale, while doing office work at your desk, or while traveling to show a home or an apartment, you could be eligible to obtain workers’ compensation benefits. Florida law requires injured workers to report their injury to their employer within 30 days and to seek medical care from an approved provider. A lawyer can ensure that you meet all requirements for workers’ compensation eligibility.

One of the experienced Pompano Beach workers’ compensation attorneys at the Law Offices of David M. Benenfeld, P.A. can talk with you today to learn more about the circumstances of your injury, and we can advise you on the next steps for obtaining the workers’ compensation benefits you need. Do not hesitate to get in touch with us for assistance.

Sources:

bls.gov/ooh/sales/real-estate-brokers-and-sales-agents.htm

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0440/0440.html

myfloridacfo.com/division/wc/employer/coverage-requirements#:~:text=Employers%20with%20one%20or%20more,must%20have%20workers’%20compensation%20coverage