50 YEARS AFTER THE NATIONAL COMMISSION: IS THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SYSTEM SERVING INJURED WORKERS?
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Monday, July 11, 2022
50 years after the National Commission: Is the Workers' Compensation System
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Workers' Compensation "Demise of the Grand Bargain" Seminar Papers Online
The 2016 workers' compensation "Grand Bargain" seminar sponsored by the Pound Civil Justice Institute has posted the draft seminar papers online in PDF format and are available for download. The 2016 Academic Symposium is entitled, "The Demise of the Grand Bargain: Compensation for Injured Workers in the 21st Century."
Thursday, June 9, 2016
FL Supreme Court Rules Yet Another Part of the Work Comp Law Unconstitutional
The Florid Supreme Court today ruled yet another part of the Florida Workers' Compensation Act unconstitutional. The cut off of benefits provision was declared unconstitutional. The future of workers' compensation law in FL is now uncertain.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
US Supreme Court Reviews In The Course of Employment Issue
The US Supreme Court ruling in a recent wage and hour case solidified the principle that the time spent by workers to put on and remove safety equipment should be consider time "on the clock" and in the course of employment. This concept reaffirms basic workers' compensation case law that such activities are within the course of employment. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court verdict awarding damages to the workers of $5.8 Million dollars for overtime wages.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Opting Out Creates Savings Reports Stanford Study
Today's post is shared from ssrn.com
The “grand bargain” of workers’ compensation, whereby workers relinquished the right to sue their employers in exchange for no-fault occupational injury insurance, was one of the great tort reforms of the Twentieth Century. However, there is one U.S. state that has always permitted employers to decline workers’ compensation coverage, and in which many firms (“nonsubscribers”) have chosen to do so: Texas.
Friday, March 4, 2016
The National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary March 2016 Newsletter
I strongly urge you to read The National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary March 2016 Newsletter for cutting edge information concerning national workers' compensation issues.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Breast Cancer: California Discriminates Against Women
The California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA) joined Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) for the first ever Women in the Workplace Day at the State Capitol. The day was centered around Governor Brown’s veto of the CAAA sponsored AB 305 (Gonzalez, 2015), which sought to ensure that women are not compensated less than men for identical work injuries.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
John Burton Reports Private Sector Costs Down For 9th Year
Professor Emeritus, John F. Burton, Jr., reports in the Workers' Compensation Research Report that for the ninth consecutive year there have been declining costs.
Issue 10 of the Workers’ Compensation Resources Research Report (WCRRR) examines the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation. Part I relies on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to examine national trends from 1986 to 2014. For private-sector employers, costs dropped for the ninth consecutive year and represented 1.77 percent of payroll in 2014, the lowest figure since 1986. For all non-federal employers, which includes state and local government employers in addition to private sector employers, employers’ costs of workers’ compensation were 1.76 percent of payroll in 2014, which was the ninth consecutive year of declining costs and the lowest figure since the data series began in 1991.
The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) also publishes estimates of the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation for all non-federal employers. The results of the two estimates diverge after 2010, with the NASI data showing three years of increases in employers’ costs from 2011 to 2013 (the latest year with NASI data) while the BLS data show nine years of declines through 2014.
Part II provides information based on the BLS data on the variations among employers’ costs of workers’ compensation in 2014 depending on the employers’ region, industry, the occupations of the firms’ employees, firm size, and union status. The variations among industries were significant, ranging from 4.71 percent of payroll in construction to 0.57 percent of payroll in the financial industry.
Download WCRRR Issue 10 Order Form
Issue 10 of the Workers’ Compensation Resources Research Report (WCRRR) examines the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation. Part I relies on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to examine national trends from 1986 to 2014. For private-sector employers, costs dropped for the ninth consecutive year and represented 1.77 percent of payroll in 2014, the lowest figure since 1986. For all non-federal employers, which includes state and local government employers in addition to private sector employers, employers’ costs of workers’ compensation were 1.76 percent of payroll in 2014, which was the ninth consecutive year of declining costs and the lowest figure since the data series began in 1991.
The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) also publishes estimates of the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation for all non-federal employers. The results of the two estimates diverge after 2010, with the NASI data showing three years of increases in employers’ costs from 2011 to 2013 (the latest year with NASI data) while the BLS data show nine years of declines through 2014.
Part II provides information based on the BLS data on the variations among employers’ costs of workers’ compensation in 2014 depending on the employers’ region, industry, the occupations of the firms’ employees, firm size, and union status. The variations among industries were significant, ranging from 4.71 percent of payroll in construction to 0.57 percent of payroll in the financial industry.
Download WCRRR Issue 10 Order Form
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Injured Workers Continue to Decline While Employer Costs Rise
Study Finds Benefits as a Share of Payroll Approach Lowest in Three Decades
Workers’ compensation benefits as a share of payroll for injured workers continue to decline even as employment grows and overall employer costs increase, according to anew report from the National Academy of Social Insurance (the Academy).
Monday, July 13, 2015
White House Conference on Aging 2015
Read more about "aging" and "workers' compensation":
Jul 07, 2012
Safety in the workplace is now a growing concern as US aging workforce expands. It has been frequently reported that the expansion of this dimension of the labor sector has generated an increase in serious accidents and .
Dec 05, 2009
Safety in the workplace is now a growing concern as US aging workforce expands. It has been frequently reported that the expansion of this dimension of the labor sector has generated an increase in serious accidents and ...
Aug 03, 2012
"The aging of the U.S. population, the increasing share of females in the workforce, and, in recent years, the high unemployment rate are the primary factors explaining the rising costs of Social Security Disability Insurance.".
Nov 25, 2013
Men who are unemployed for more than two years show signs of faster ageing in their DNA, a new study has found. Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oulu, Finland studied DNA samples from ...
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Professor John F Burton Jr: Illinois Proposed Changes Are Obectionable
The former chair of the 1972 National Commission on Workers' Compensation told the Illinois legislature yesterday that the proposed changes to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act will degrade the system and reduce benefits to injured workers. Profession Emeritis John F. Burton, Jr., yesterday presented a statement to the Committee of the Whole before the Illinois House of Representatives.
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| Professor John F. Burton Jr. |
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Some 4.4 Million People Are About to Get a Raise
U.S. economy Photographer: Andrew Burton/Getty Images Protesters demanding higher wages and unionization for fast food workers block traffic near Times Square on Sept. 4, 2014 in New York City. In his 2014 state of the union address, President Obama kicked off what could unofficially be dubbed the Year of the Minimum Wage. Just a year earlier, he had called for a $9 federal minimum, but there he was in early 2014, saying workers should earn at least $10.10 an hour. The shift shows how coordinated campaigns for higher wages, which started with fast-food workers and spread more broadly, raised expectations of what’s considered fair compensation. Obama’s call to raise the federal minimum may have gone unanswered, but states and cities picked up the torch. In 2014, 13 states passed legislation or initiatives to raise the wage floor, not just in Democratic strongholds but in red states as well. Now the results of those campaigns are starting to come to fruition nationwide. About 4.4 million people will see their pay go up for the new year, according to an analysis of census data by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which supports higher minimum pay. EPI’s data show that more than 750,000 workers earn the minimum wage in the 13 states that passed new raises in 2014. About two-thirds of those workers will see their wages go up on Jan. 1, and the rest will see their pay increase later in 2015. EPI estimates that in those 13... |
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Friday, December 12, 2014
Employees shouldn’t be treated like products
Hail the lowly bar code. By enabling retailers to track sales and inventory, it allows them to order goods from warehouses and manufacturers only when needed, reducing overhead and costs. Just-in-time production is a signal achievement of our digitized age.
Just-in-time labor is not. Millions of retail workers are routinely summoned to their workplaces with little more advance warning than their employers accord the truckloads of goods or food those workers sell. Unlike those products, of course, workers have lives. They have kids to get to school or put in day care, families to cook for, courses to take, other gigs to report to, promises to keep. They can do all that if they have regular schedules, but such schedules are often hard to come by.
A recent study by the University of Chicago’s Susan Lambert reported that 41 percent of young (ages 26 to 32) hourly workers get their schedules a week or less in advance, and that “in the course of a single month, workers’ hours varied on average by 37 percent in comparison to what they considered their usual hours.”
Regular hours were once a cornerstone of Americans’ work lives. They were a feature of the union contracts that covered a third of the workforce in the decades following World War II. But as unions have vanished and workers suffered a loss of power, thousands of employers have taken to summoning their employees — or telling them to wait, unpaid, until they are either...
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Wednesday, November 12, 2014
John Burton Reports That The Workers Compensation Insurance Industry Underwriting Results Continue to Improve in 2013
The current issue of the Workers’ Compensation Resources Research Report examines the profitability of the workers’ compensation insurance industry in 2013 as reported by A.M. Best. The operating ratio, which is the most comprehensive measure of underwriting results because it considers investment income, decreased from 93.7 in 2012 to 82.9 in 2013.. An operating ratio of less than 100 indicates that the workers’ compensation insurance industry is profitable, and thus the industry was profitable in 2013. The operating ratio of 82.9 in 2013 means the industry earned $17.10 of profits for every $100 of net premiums. Since 1993, the workers’ compensation insurance industry has been profitable in 17 of the 20 years – all but 2001, 2002, and 2011.
This issue provides for the first time information on profitability of the workers’ compensation insurance industry at the state level relying on data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Of the eight states examined in the article, only two had underwriting profits (combined ratios were less than 100), but in six of these states, workers’ compensation carriers had profits after investment income was included.
Download an order form for Issue 8 of the WCRRR here.
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*John F. Burton, Jr. is Professor Emeritus in the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) at Rutgers University and Professor Emeritus in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. He is a Member of the Study Panel on National Data on Workers’ Compensation of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). Burton previously served as Dean of SMLR and as a faculty member at Cornell University and the University of Chicago. He has a law degree and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.
This issue provides for the first time information on profitability of the workers’ compensation insurance industry at the state level relying on data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Of the eight states examined in the article, only two had underwriting profits (combined ratios were less than 100), but in six of these states, workers’ compensation carriers had profits after investment income was included.
Download an order form for Issue 8 of the WCRRR here.
...............
*John F. Burton, Jr. is Professor Emeritus in the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) at Rutgers University and Professor Emeritus in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. He is a Member of the Study Panel on National Data on Workers’ Compensation of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). Burton previously served as Dean of SMLR and as a faculty member at Cornell University and the University of Chicago. He has a law degree and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Global Handwashing Day — October 15, 2014
The 7th annual Global Handwashing Day will be observed October 15, 2014. This observance increases awareness and understanding of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent disease around the world.
Handwashing with soap has an important role to play in child survival and health. Approximately 2.2 million children aged <5 years die each year from diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, the top two causes of death among young children globally (1). Handwashing with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea among children aged <5 years by 30% (2) and the incidence of respiratory infections by 21% (3).
Although persons around the world clean their hands with water, few use soap to wash their hands. Washing hands with soap removes bacteria much more effectively (4).
Additional information on Global Handwashing Day is available from CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/features/globalhandwashing. General handwashing information is available from at http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing. Information on water-related hygiene is available athttp://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/index.html.
References
Liu L, Johnson HL, et al.; Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group of WHO and UNICEF. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000. Lancet 2012;379:2151–61.
Ejemot RI, Ehiri JE, Meremikwu MM, Critchley JA. Hand washing for preventing diarrhoea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2008;(1):CD004265.
Aiello AE, Coulborn RM, Perez V, Larson EL. Effect of hand hygiene on infectious disease risk in the community setting: a meta-analysis. Am J Public Health 2008;98:1372–81.
Burton M, Cobb E, Donachie P, Judah G, Curtis V, Schmidt WP. The effect of handwashing with water or soap on bacterial contamination of hands. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2011;8:97–104.
Handwashing with soap has an important role to play in child survival and health. Approximately 2.2 million children aged <5 years die each year from diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, the top two causes of death among young children globally (1). Handwashing with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea among children aged <5 years by 30% (2) and the incidence of respiratory infections by 21% (3).
Although persons around the world clean their hands with water, few use soap to wash their hands. Washing hands with soap removes bacteria much more effectively (4).
Additional information on Global Handwashing Day is available from CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/features/globalhandwashing. General handwashing information is available from at http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing. Information on water-related hygiene is available athttp://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/index.html.
References
Liu L, Johnson HL, et al.; Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group of WHO and UNICEF. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000. Lancet 2012;379:2151–61.
Ejemot RI, Ehiri JE, Meremikwu MM, Critchley JA. Hand washing for preventing diarrhoea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2008;(1):CD004265.
Aiello AE, Coulborn RM, Perez V, Larson EL. Effect of hand hygiene on infectious disease risk in the community setting: a meta-analysis. Am J Public Health 2008;98:1372–81.
Burton M, Cobb E, Donachie P, Judah G, Curtis V, Schmidt WP. The effect of handwashing with water or soap on bacterial contamination of hands. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2011;8:97–104.
Monday, August 25, 2014
The Father of the 11th Circuit Court Decision
| Today's post is authored by Peter Rousmaniere and shared from workcompcentral.com The Florida 11th Circuit Court decision on Aug. 13 appears to be the first state court decision in many years to declare an entire workers’ compensation statute as unconstitutional. The fingerprints of the Dean of Workers’ Compensation Research John Burton are all over Judge Jorge Cueto’s reasoning. Since the 1970s, Burton, with a law degree and PhD in economics, has been the leading academic scholar in workers’ compensation, even now years after his retirement from a faculty position at Rutgers University. Burton surely thinks that this decision is long coming. So, what’s his complaint? Cueto wrote that through the years, the state has cut back permanent partial disability benefits so severely that the state “no longer provides any benefits for this class of disabled worker.” Burton’s writings indicate that he holds that whatever permanent disability benefits there are in Florida, they are so low and PPD so significant, that the entire workers’ comp system in Florida is inadequate. Cueto agrees. He cites National Council on Compensation Insurance estimates that legislative changes in 1979, 1990, 1994 and 2003 cut PPD benefits severely. Per Burton, Florida “eviscerated the permanent partial benefit system.” The current benefits are “less than available during the 1970s and markedly lower than... |
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Video: AAJ President Discusses Generic Drugs
Nearly 80 percent of all prescriptions in the U.S. are filled with the generic version of a drug. The price tag can be appealing, but taking a generic drug can also have dangerous consequences because generic drug manufacturers are not accountable for the safety of drugs they produce.Accountability is a key incentive to ensure drug companies monitor and adequately warn patients about the safety of drugs. Despite what many may think, the FDA does not test drugs, but instead relies on testing provided by the drug companies. FDA approval of a drug does not guarantee safety. In the above video, American Association for Justice President Burton LeBlanc talks about the accountability imbalance between generic drugs and name-brand drugs and how the lack of accountability can put consumers at risk. “What you may not know is that unlike brand-name manufacturers, generic drug manufacturers cannot be held accountable if their drugs injure or kill Americans. And we all know too well, if no one is accountable, no one is safe,” LeBlanc said. To view the video in its entirety, click here. Here’s where you can help. Join the growing number of over 20,000 consumers who have already signed a petition calling on the FDA to restore accountability. Safety is an issue that can’t be overlooked.
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Saturday, December 14, 2013
AIA to Urge Renewal of TRIA to Workers Compensation
The American Insurance Association (AIA) will highlight the importance of renewing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) 2013 Fall National Meeting, underscoring TRIA's role in the workers' compensation marketplace. The NAIC meeting will take place December 14-18 in Washington, D.C.
"Workers' compensation insurers are particularly affected by a terrorist attack," said J. Stephen ("Stef") Zielezienski, AIA senior vice president and general counsel. "By definition, workers' compensation policies must cover all risks, including terrorism, because workers' compensation covers all injuries and deaths that are deemed under a state's law as work-related without distinguishing the source of the injury." Coupled with the nature of a terrorist attack, this makes the risk difficult to manage without the partnership provided by TRIA."
Zielezienski will appear before the Workers' Compensation (C) Task Force on Tuesday, December 17. In his presentation, Zielezienski will focus on the expected impact on employers, insurers and state regulators should TRIA sunset at the end of 2014.
"Without TRIA, workers' compensation insurers would have to make difficult decisions on how to manage their aggregated exposure, particularly for geographically-concentrated risks like terrorism," said Zielezienski. "If an insurance company elects to reduce their exposure by not offering as much capacity, then state residual markets and workers' compensation pools would have to absorb the risk. Ultimately, workers' compensation insurers would be responsible for these losses because they reinsure these residual market risks, but the extreme losses from catastrophic terrorism could stress the private markets and create economic uncertainty."
Zielezienski will also focus on what responsibilities state governments might assume for workers' compensation should TRIA not be reauthorized. Both AIA and the NAIC are advocating for the long-term reauthorization of TRIA. The NAIC passed a resolution at its 2013 Summer National Meeting in Indianapolis urging Congress to reauthorize the successful program.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers
Home building is physically demanding work and manual material handling may be the most difficult part of the job. Manual material handling includes all of the tasks that require you to lift, lower, push, pull, hold or carry materials. These activities increase the risk of painful strains and sprains and more serious soft tissue injuries.Soft tissues of the body include muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs, cartilage and nerves. Soft tissue injuries cause workers pain, suffering and lost income. They can also restrict non-work activity, like sports and hobbies. Builders’ and employers’ costs include loss of productivity and high workers’ compensation insurance premiums.Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers provides basic information about readily available work practices and equipment that can help both new and experienced workers, contractors and builders prevent serious manual material handling injuries. Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers [PDF - 2.6 MB] To Print the Document as a BookletThis publication was designed to be printed as a booklet on 8.5 x 11 inches paper. Proceed with printing the document as recommended below:
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Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Oklahoma workers' compensation opt-out provisions spark judicial questions
Law a high priority The law was a high priority of Gov. Mary Fallin and Republican legislative leaders, who have said it will help businesses by reducing workers' compensation costs. Opponents claim cost savings will come at the expense of injured workers. Oklahoma City attorney John McMurry, who is challenging the law on behalf of two state lawmakers and the Professional Fire Fighters of Oklahoma, argued that not all Oklahoma employers and employees would be treated equally under the law. Employees of companies that opt out of the system would have “fewer rights” than employees of companies that participate in the administrative system, McMurry argued. An employee of an opt-out company who is dissatisfied with the way the employer has handled a claim would first have to appeal to a panel of three persons appointed by the employer, McMurry said. Eventually, the employee would be able to appeal a series... |
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