Quote of the day
“We submit that the cost of funding the B.C. workers’ compensation system is an intrinsic and integral aspect of the ‘historic compromise’ which is the genesis of that system, that a balance must be drawn between the level of benefit entitlement for disabled workers and the cost to employers to fund the system, and that this balancing of interests is predicated on disabled workers receiving fair (but not full) protection against economic loss.
Joint submission by 46 employer groups regarding proposed changes to British Columbia’s workers’ compensation system
Fireman denied heart benefits; ruling affects others too
A Connecticut appeals court last month ruled that any paid firefighter or municipal police officer who develops heart disease must notify the department within a year or give up the right to collect workers’ compensation benefits for any form of heart disease that may develop in the future. The workers; compensation commissioner and the state Compensation Review Board held that the now-retired fireman’s mitral valve replacement and coronary artery bypass were “new injuries” and that his failure to file a timely claim for the past pericarditis didn’t bar his new claim, but the appellate court disagreed. Journal Inquirer (Manchester, Conn.)
Canada: B.C. businesses await workers’ comp overhaul
In British Columbia, public hearings on proposed changes to the province’s workers’ compensation system have been completed, and final submissions from business and other groups are being submitted for a new report scheduled for release this fall. According to a consultant report prepared for the province, WorkSafeBC retains compensation rates “among the highest levels among workers’ compensation systems.” Employers, injured workers and their families are waiting for the next overhaul. Coast Mountain News
Florida school district to seek new HR director
Christine Pejot, who joined the Pasco County school district as human resources director in 2013 after serving as chief of Florida’s Bureau of State Employee Workers’ Compensation Claims, is leaving the district for a top-level job with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district. Pejot changed the way the district hires substitute teachers, recruits employees and handles certification concerns, and processes within employee benefits and risk management divisions. Her last day is August 9. Tampa Bay Times
Texas court rules for insurer in electric shock case
A Texas appellate court affirmed earlier this month a judgment for an Ace American Insurance Company, the defendant in a lawsuit from a man’s injuries that stemmed from a work-related electric shock. Southeast Texas Record