A California court of appeal says workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for a worker injured by a punch press when the safety mechanism on the machine failed. The worker tried to sue her employer for damages under a Labor Code section 4558, but the court found no evidence that the employer “bypassed, removed, or …
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones just approved changes to the experience rating plan and the uniform statistical rating plan that will help some employers at the expense of others. In particular some small employers will soon be protected from the full impact of a single workers’ comp claim, while others in several construction sectors will have …
Proposed amendments to the Uniform Statistical Reporting Plan (USRP) and the Experience Rating Plan are now formally under review by the California Department of Insurance (CDI). The official public comment period and hearing produced strong support for proposals to limit X-Mod swings for small employers and to ease payroll documentation for some employers covered by …
California’s workers’ comp system experienced a spike in cumulative trauma claims starting in 2010 and the rate of new CT claims remains near all-time highs. Carriers, claims adjusters and defense attorneys all agree that these are difficult to defend and end up driving up the overall cost of the claim and by extension an employer’s …
Insurance industry representatives to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau are supporting a proposal to limit the impact that a single claim can have on a small employer’s X-Mod. But they balked at another proposal from the Bureau that they said would have had safe employers subsidizing the worst 1% of the workers’ comp risks. …
Experience rated small employers that have been operating loss free could be in for some relief when they incur that first workers’ comp claim. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, a carrier supported private organization, is proposing to limit the swing in small business X-Mods to a maximum of 25 points in these instances. It …
Small employers that get hit with huge X-Mod increases following a loss could have that increase cut in half if the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) adopts proposed changes to California’s experience rating system. But representatives for California contractors say the Bureau’s proposal doesn’t go far enough to prevent small construction firms from essentially being …
Small employers, especially those in the construction trades, may get some relief from the hit their X-Mod takes when they have to file workers’ comp claims. A confidential source tells Workers’ Comp Executive discussions are underway that could put a limit on the impact a single claim can have on an employer’s X-Mod. But a permanent …