Throughout the United States, a combination of state and federal services has been devised to help protect the rights of workers who have sustained an illness or injury on the job. In all 50 states, many injured workers are now entitled to free medical care and other forms of financial assistance. Although these services are vitally important and prove to be instrumental to many families facing the prospect of their chief breadwinner facing a long recovery after an injury, the total costs associated with state and federal services can be quite substantial. As a result, many states have instituted a fee system that employers pay into as a means of helping to offset the costs associated with workers' compensation services. While the systems and fee formulas used in each state vary, they are often based on the number of employees who work for the company and are payable on a quarterly basis. If you are a small business owner who has questions about the workers' compensation fund system that is used in your state, talk to a representative of the local workers' compensation agency.