Germany introduced the first compulsory workers’ compensation insurance law in 1884.
The law formed part of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s social insurance program. It provided a system for compensating workers injured in industrial accidents, shifting much of the financial burden away from individual lawsuits and employers acting alone.
Germany had already introduced compulsory sickness insurance in 1883, followed by accident insurance in 1884 and old-age and disability insurance in 1889. These measures helped establish the modern social-insurance model.
Workers’ compensation systems differ by country, but they generally trade guaranteed benefits for workplace injuries against limits on ordinary lawsuits against employers. The German model became an important influence on later social-insurance systems.