Quote of the day
"It was kind of stupid, but I did what I had to do."
Joseph DelDuca, injured New Jersey worker who, upon learning that a hearing on his claim was postponed for the eighth time in two years, plowed his pickup truck through the glass entrance of a workers' compensation courthouse
Biz Groups Oppose Ma’s Sick Leave Law
California Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, is backing legislation that would guarantee employees as many as nine days of paid sick leave a year to care for themselves or sick family members. At least a dozen business groups oppose the bill, contending it would increase costs and liability. By Steve Lawrence, AP via Sacramento Bee [may require registration] Go to the Full Story…
Star-Ledger’s Special Report: How Jersey Fails Injured Workers
In the Garden State, the “bureaucratic quicksand” of the state’s workers’ compensation system often leaves injured workers in the lurch for years before they collect benefits, and some even die before they do. Bureaucracy is only part of the problem; it’s also hobbled by its major players’ political entanglements. By Dunstan McNichol and John P. Martin, Newark Star-Ledger [may require registration] Go to the Full Story…
Mental Injury Compensation Bill Stalls in Cornhusker State
Nebraska lawmakers likely will not extend workers’ compensation benefits to employees who witness violent acts and suffer mental illnesses as a result, even after a new estimate showed the proposed law would likely cost the state far less than originally believed. By Anna Jo Bratton, AP via Houston Chronicle
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Nassau County Looks to Unload Partial Disability Payments
Nassau County, N.Y. officials expect tens of millions of dollars in savings from a proposal to unload about $100 million in projected partial disability payments to former county employees. Under the plan, the county would borrow approximately $55 million for a one-time payment to a private insurer to take over about 1,000 claim cases that last year cost the county $10 million. By Sid Cassese, Newsday
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South Australia Unions Protest Gutting of Workers’ Comp
A group of about 1,500 South Australia union members rally on the steps of the state parliament to protest recommendations that would cut injured workers’ payments to 80% of their weekly average earnings after 13 weeks and end payments altogether after 130 weeks, regardless of the nature of the injury. By Simon Butler, GreenLeft.org
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BWC’s Program to Bridge 150 Language Barriers
Thanks to a contract between the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and a California telephone interpreting service, the BWC will provide what it calls “seamless” multilingual services in more than 150 languages. Chillicothe Gazette
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West Virginia: 3,000 Cases Await Justices’ Decision
Three thousand workers’ compensation protests are up in the air at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, while insurers around the nation wait to see where they will fall. By Steve Korris, West Virginia Record
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Former Mass. Plant Workers May Get Benefits for Radiation Exposures
Former employees of a Springfield, Mass., valve plant who handled uranium and other radioactive materials may file for federal compensation for certain illnesses resulting from handling radioactive material dating back to the 1940s, the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health rules. Massachusetts Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, both Democrats, have expressed concern that the workers have been shut out of the process to get paid for their job-related cancers by an inability to attain a standard for eligibility. By Jo-Ann Moriarty, Springfield Republican
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