Quote of the day
"The reforms caged a bloated, economy-sapping workers' comp system, and California should not want to let that monster loose once again."
Editorial, Riverside Press-Enterprise
Editorial: No Evidence Yet of Need to Boost Benefits
That California’s workers’ compensation reforms cut costs by billions of dollars is not by itself a signal that the state should increase benefits to injured workers. Any changes to the system should be based on clear evidence of need, and that data simply does not exist yet. Riverside Press-Enterprise
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Former Arizona Prosecutor Wants to Help Firms That Hire Illegals
In Arizona, a former federal and county prosecutor launches an alternative initiative aimed at companies that hire illegal aliens. It would allow the state to fine companies or individuals with more than four employees who are paid in cash but for whom the employer does not withhold taxes, pay unemployment insurance or fail to obtain workers’ compensation coverage. By Howard Fischer, Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff)
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Former BWC Investment Chief Takes Stand in Manager’s Trial
Former Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation CFO Terrence Gasper, who himself is serving a five-year prison sentence for accepting bribes, testifies in the federal trial of Mark Lay, who is accused of investment advisory and mail fraud in the agency’s grinding investment scandal. By AP via WTOL-TV (Toledo)
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New York Greenlights New Workers’ Comp Plan in Erie County
State officials give the go-ahead to Lifetime Health to operate in Erie County. The company offers a program intended to help businesses form an immediate contact between injured workers and physicians in the community, in order to reduce lost time and wages and increase productivity. Business First of Buffalo
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W.V. Businesses Register Concern About BrickStreet Oversight Plan
The West Virginia Business and Industry Council puts at the top of agenda its opposition to draft legislation that would return oversight of BrickStreet Mutual, the state’s exclusive, private workers’ compensation insurer, to a legislative committee that would have subpoena power, as well as other legal investigative tools. By Joselyn King, Wheeling Intelligencer [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Constitution State Employers Should Expect Steeper Rate Hike
Many Connecticut employers could see rate increases averaging 3.4 percent for workers’ compensation insurance in 2008—slightly steeper than the state has seen in recent years—but businesses in an assigned risk pool, on average, may face smaller increases. According to an NCCI executive, the loss cost filing reflects the state’s “stable and healthy” status. By Diane Levick, Hartford Courant
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Collier County Coughs Up Six in Sunshine State Sweep
Six contractors working in Collier County, Fla., without workers’ compensation and licenses receive stop-work orders from Florida Department of Financial Services investigators in a surprise sweep last week called Operation Check Point. By Katy Bishop, Naples News
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Advice: ‘Cautiously Oblige’ Disabled Workers
A labor lawyer says that whether a worker’s disability is work-related or workers’ compensation benefits were awarded, employers in any case must reasonably accommodate disabled employees so they can perform the essential functions of their jobs. But that also means identifying essential tasks that the employee cannot perform, and asking if he or she has any ideas on reasonable accommodations. By Bill Clifton via Macon Telegraph
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