Workers' Compensation: Chamber of Commerce

Showing posts with label Chamber of Commerce. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

NY: Liability and workers compensation priority issues for Chamber of Commece

Today's post is shared from http://poststar.com/

Business leaders are advocating this session of the state Legislature for relief from a state law that holds contractors “absolutely liable” for workplace accidents, said Peter Aust, president and chief executive officer of Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Business leaders want the Legislature to modify Section 240 and 241 of state labor law, known as the Absolute Liability Law, Aust said in a recent interview.

“It’s causing contractors’ insurance rates to go up, and that’s being passed on down to everybody whose doing a project -- whether it’s a housing project or a commercial project,” Aust said.

Business leaders also are seeking changes in workers compensation laws this session, he said.

“Reform measures in worker’s compensation have to happen ... or else we won’t see companies wanting to locate here,” he said.

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Friday, November 15, 2013

Attorneys argue over Okla. workers' comp lawsuit

Oklahoma's new workers' compensation law violates the state Constitution in several ways and should be struck down, an attorney for two state lawmakers and a firefighter's organization told a state Supreme Court referee Thursday.
"There are some very, very disturbing aspects," Oklahoma City attorney John McMurry said during oral arguments before referee Greg Albert. "There is a lot before the court in this particular case."
Among other things, McMurry said the law unconstitutionally delegates legislative powers and amounts to unconstitutional logrolling, or combining multiple subjects into one bill. But Oklahoma Solicitor General Patrick Wyrick and an attorney for business groups defended the law, saying it should be given a chance to work.
"The common theme is apparent here. ... How are we going to handle workers' compensation cases?" said attorney Robert McCampbell, who represents The State Chamber, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Albert said he planned to condense the attorney's arguments into a report he will present to the state's highest court next week. He said the court could decide whether to take up the case before the end of the month.
Legislation to overhaul the state's workers' compensation system was signed into law by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin in May. It was a top priority for Republican leaders who say the state's previous system was a detriment to business and industry in the...

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Sunday, November 3, 2013

12 Attacks On Workers’ Rights That Will Make You Kinda Mad

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.buzzfeed.com

These are just a few examples of the numerous legislative attacks on workers—both union and nonunion—that took place in 2011–2012, as documented in a new report by the Economic Policy Institute. Many of these attacks were coordinated by a corporate-funded lobbying organization called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

More recently, working families have been fighting back. To find out how, check out “10 Ways Working Families Are ‘Kicking Ass’ for the Middle Class.”

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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Illinois Punishes Workers for Employer Deceit

The efforts by employers, insurance carriers and the Chamber of Commerce in Illinois, to take away the rights of injured workers and strip them of benefits may have all been based on Industry fraud. Recently obtained documents, secured under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), reveal that the employer’s own doctor had in-fact validated the causal relationship of the medical claims of the injured workers to work.

A campaign in Illinois by Industry to dismantle the State’s workers’ compensation system was triggered and flamed by a story appearing in a local newspaper asserting that several correction officers had filed fraudulent claims for repetitive motion trauma to their hands. The local news report insinuated that the claims could not have been credible.

The story, for some suspicious reason, was disseminated in a viral manner on the Internet. Concurrently, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce went on the attack claiming that the workers’ compensation system in Illinois was loaded with fraudulent activities. The Chamber and employers lobbied for legislation to strip injured workers of what little rights they still had under the law. The statutory changes they sponsored reduced ill workers access for benefits, reduced medical treatment expenditures by 30%, and set up a series of hurtles that left the injured without remedy to cure and relieve conditions caused by work.

Even that wasn’t enough. Supporters of the Industry’s draconian legislative effort, have now vowed to return to take away the basic promises granted workers a century ago, that injured workers could obtain the limited and capped scheduled benefits, under a no-fault system. The workers’ compensation system was intended to provide a remedial and expeditious benefit to injured workers in a summary and efficient fashion, without the element of fault being considered.

A hidden report reveals that Anthony E. Sudekum, MD, a Board Certified Hand Surgeon, retained by the employer, State of Illinois Department of Corrections, on March 30, 2011, after and extensive review of the facts, circumstances, inspection of the premises and equipment, and examination of the employees, concluded that, on the job activities contributed to their illness. He wrote, “…I feel that ….work activities at Menard Correctional center served to aggravate…bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and left ulnar neuropathy.”

Furthermore, some contend that the neurological illnesses that appeared at the Menard Correctional Center may have been the result of a mysterious disease cluster that warrants much further investigation instead of a knee-jerk denial. Similarly, a mysterious outbreak of disease in Philadelphia ultimately resulted in the discovery of Legionnaires Disease. Today the US Centers for Disease Control continues to investigate worldwide clusters of gastro-intestinal conditions to determine their potential causal relationship. It is through continued medical research and investigation that we make the workplace healthier, safer and more productive.

We should learn from history. In the past, employers and manufacturers were also caught intentionally concealing the hazards of asbestos, tobacco and lead paint. That left a legacy of disease and death, and billions of dollars of economic loss. One would think that everyone learned from those tragic mistakes. For our nation to survive, employers must take an active roll in improving the health of our workers, and build a stronger system, rather than just deny the hazards of the workplace and blame the injured.

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