Quote of the day
"Further improvement will be driven by the changing occupational composition of our workforce, in particular the relative decline in traditionally high-risk industries such as manufacturing, with contrasting employment growth in lower-risk service industries."
Neil Coulson, chief executive of the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on why the Victoria state fund can cut its rates.
Oregon Bill Would Require Coverage for Farms
The Oregon state Senate passed in a unanimous vote a bill seeks to ensure that farm labor contractors show proof of coverage before obtaining or renewing their operating license. Although existing law mandates that the contractors secure coverage it lacks teeth to ensure they do. Statesman Journal
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Bill Would Allow Policy Discounts for Drug Testing Employers
Legislation approved by the House of Representatives in Arizona would allow insurance companies that provide workers’ compensation coverage to give policyholders a 5-percent discount if they have drug-testing programs. The measure, which already has been approved by one Senate panel, awaits a full Senate vote. Howard Fischer, Arizona Daily Star
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Missouri Employers Overcharged for Workers’ Comp
Some 21,000 employers in Missouri were overcharged on their workers’ comp policies in 2003, 2004 and 2005 due to an error in the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s rate-making system. Associated Press via Belleville News Democrat
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Study Finds 11 Percent of Maine’s Construction Firms Misclassify Workers
A briefing paper by the University of Maine Bureau of Labor Education asserts that 11 percent of Maine’s construction workers are regularly misclassified as independent contractors in an effort to reduce their workers’ comp premiums. University of Maine
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Editorial: Cost Pressures Dilute Australian State’s WorkerCover Act Results
The Australian state of Victoria should reduce WorkCover premiums by 20 percent to help businesses cope with rising costs in many areas. The editorial focuses on the Victorian WorkCover Authority’s net profit of 675 million Australian dollars in the six months ended Dec. 31, 2006. Neil Coulson, chief executive of the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry in TheAge.com
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Freelance Writer’s Workers’ Comp Claim Denied
A split Wyoming Supreme Court denied a claim filed by a freelance writer for Outdoor magazine who injured his wrist while rock climbing, despite the fact that he’d secured a workers’ comp policy for his corporation that only employed himself. Associated Press via Billings Gazette
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