Reshaping Workers’ Compensation for the Sharing Economy

The most dramatic factor in re-shaping the future of workers’ compensation is that we now have a sharing economy,  Quietly, over the decades, “work” has been influenced dramatically by the Millennial Generation. As the sharing generation reinvents the economy, the element of “trust” will have the most important impact in the direction of social legislative programs such as workers’ compensation.

Fiat Chrysler to Pay $105M Fine - Violations Safety Act

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced today that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has acknowledged violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act’s requirements to repair vehicles with safety defects and will submit to rigorous federal oversight, buy back some defective vehicles from owners, and agreed to a $105 million civil penalty, the largest ever imposed by the Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Home is an Odyssey For The Aging Population

Workers' Compensation over the decades has had a very narrow and limited view of "home improvement" benefits for an aging and disabled workforce. That view is focussed on the immediate and maybe a 5 year plan going into the future. With increasing life expectancy of the entire population the workers' compensation system will need to adapt to what is considered "home" and adapt to new factors in an ever changing world.

Review Committee Report: Inadvertent Shipment of Live Bacillus Anthrax Spores by DOD

The US Department of Defense issued a report concerning its shipment of live anthrax vaccine and concluded:

"On May 29, 2015, due to the inadvertent shipment of live anthrax from a Department of Defense (DoD) laboratory, the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DSD) directed the Under Secretary of Defense (USD) for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics (AT&L) to conduct a 30-day review of the Department’s safety practices for generating and handling inactivated Bacillus anthracis (BA).

Social Security Disability Solvency: The Backbone of Workers' Compensation

The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) system is estimated to run out of money in 2016 and the consequences, if not patched-up by legislation, are going to critical to the nation's patchwork of workers' compensation programs. Since its inception over 50 years ago, SSDI has been the safety net, especially in reserve offset states. It is the backbone of a program to support injured workers.

Over the decades, for numerous economic, social and political factors, the nation's workers' compensation program has continued to diminish in it's ability to deliver as intended. Both the medical and indemnity components have been difficult to obtain, and have restricted what they do deliver.

Misclassification: US Dept of Labor Issues Interpretation of Employment Status

The Application of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “Suffer or Permit” Standard in the Identification of Employees Who Are Misclassified as Independent Contractors.

Sounding very much like a workers' compensation standardized employment status test, the US Department of Labor has added its interpretation this developing area of the law. This memo will has obvious added consequences to state interpretation to this issue. 

Company, Owner Sentenced in Asbestos Dumping Case

Donzell Moore of Toledo was sentenced today in Lucas County Court of Common Pleas after pleading guilty in June to two charges related to asbestos removal and disposal during demolition of the former Champion Spark Plug facility on Upton Avenue in Toledo.