Quote of the day
"It takes one employee in a small business to bring it down."
Arizona State Rep. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, about proposed legislation intended to target abuses to the workers' comp system by injured workers
Inspectors Find Abuses on Inland Empire Farm
State inspectors close a farming operation near Hemet after discovering workers’ compensation violations and possible health and safety violations including inadequate toilets and drinking water, and exposed wiring, in a packing house. Additionally, the workers apparently were having $10 a week deducted from their paychecks for rent, which would violate federal labor laws. By Jack Katzanek, Riverside Press-Enterprise [with podcast] Go to the Full Story…
Employer-Friendly Proposals in Play in Arizona
Arizona businesses are trying to get workers’ compensation laws changed to reduce injured workers’ benefits if they were fired for misconduct and allow insurers to speak directly with an injured worker’s doctor. Labor advocates contend that provision could allow employers to unfairly pressure doctors to change their diagnoses. By Howard Fischer, Arizona Republic
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Franken’s Firm Fined for Alleged Workers’ Comp Violations
The New York Workers’ Compensation Board in 2006 fined the personal corporation of Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken $25,000 for allegedly failing to carry workers’ compensation insurance for almost three years. Franken did not become aware of the fine until this week, according to his campaign spokesman.
Go to the full story by AP via Boston Herald
Go to the full story by AP via Bemidji Pioneer
Consultants: WSI ‘Performing Well’
Workforce Safety and Insurance is “performing well,” according to a managing director for the Marsh USA consulting firm, who also acknowledges that the North Dakota workers’ comp agency could improve some aspects of its service to injured workers, including more training for claims adjusters and better guidelines for determining whether an injury is work-related.
Go to the full story by Dale Wetzel, AP via Grand Forks Herald
Go to the full story by AP via KXMB-TV (Bismarck)
WSI Exec Says Employees Fear Retaliation for Voicing Concerns
Despite pleas by the state House’s majority leader, Workforce Safety and Insurance employees largely stay quiet at a legislative hearing on the agency’s problems. The agency’s chief of support services says workers fear retaliation because they lack civil service job protection and can be dismissed for almost any reason. By Dale Wetzel, AP via Fargo Forum [may require registration] Go to the Full Story…
New U.K. Study Links Circulatory Diseases, Radiation
A new study of nearly 65,000 nuclear workers in Britain shows a statistical link between circulatory diseases and occupational exposure to high levels of radiation over long periods of time. Britain’s largest nuclear union is calling for a review into whether non-cancer circulatory diseases should be covered by the existing nuclear workers’ compensation scheme. By Alan Irving, Whitehaven News
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Garden State Cuts Settlements Backlog Tied to Medicare Review
The backlog of injured New Jersey workers whose workers’ compensation settlements are hobbled by bureaucratic red tape has dropped by more than 1,000 since October, state labor officials announce. At its worst about two years ago, 5,000 settlements had been suspended pending Medicare review, with some languishing so long that the intended recipient died before Medicare signed off on a settlement. By Dunstan McNichol, Newark Star-Ledger
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