Quote of the day
“These considerable savings to employers could be used to hire employees, offer higher wages or expand operations in New Hampshire.”
New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner John Elias
New Hampshire Business Journal
New Hampshire workers’ comp rates decline again
The New Hampshire Insurance Department has approved a National Council on Compensation Insurance proposal that reduces voluntary loss costs by 9.6 percent. As a result, workers’ compensation rates for employers will fall for the eighth straight year, for policies effective starting January 1, 2020. New Hampshire Business Journal
Physician sentenced for illegally distributing opioids in West Virginia
A 58-year-old physician has been sentenced to four years in a federal prison for illegally distributing opioids. Prosecutors say the drugs were distributed without legitimate medical purpose and outside the scope of professional practice in Monongalia County, West Virginia between 2013 and 2015. WBOY (Clarksburg, W.V.)
Attorney: Amazon must address warehouse working conditions
“Under the workers’ compensation system of Pennsylvania and other states, there is no deterrent for Amazon and other large employers to deny benefits in every case. The company has everything to gain and not much to lose in having a blanket policy of denial,” argues Sam Pond, the managing partner of the largest workers’ compensation and disability law firm in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Inquirer
Labor Department rules in favor of whistleblower
Fed-OSHA has ordered Houston, Texas-based energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan Inc. to pay a former employee back wages, damages, and attorney’s fees after an investigation found the company violated the whistleblower provisions of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act when it terminated an employee who informed a contractor of the company’s attempt to avoid complying with spill reporting requirements. Southeast Texas Record