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(c) 2010-2026 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

US Labor Department announces comprehensive final rule on H-2B foreign labor certification program

Official portrait of Secretary of Labor Hilda ...Image via Wikipedia
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis
The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration and its Wage and Hour Division today announced a final rule to improve the H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker program. The rule, to be published in the Feb. 21 edition of the Federal Register, includes changes to several aspects of the program to ensure that U.S. workers receive greater access to jobs and strengthens worker protections.
The H-2B program allows the entry of foreign workers into the United States on a temporary basis when qualified U.S. workers are not available, and the employment of those foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. The H-2B program is limited by law to a cap of 66,000 visas per year.
"The H-2B program is designed to help businesses when there is a temporary shortage of U.S. workers," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "The rule announced today will ensure that the program is used as intended by making these jobs more accessible to U.S. workers and providing stronger protections for every worker."
The department responded to comments received from employers and worker advocates in drafting the final rule, providing employers with greater flexibility and certainty throughout the application and recruitment processes as well as improving U.S. workers' access to jobs. The final rule creates a national registry for all H-2B job postings and increases the amount of time during which U.S. workers must be recruited. The rule also requires the rehiring of former employees when available.
In addition, H-2B program benefits such as transportation costs and wages will be extended to U.S. workers performing substantially the same work as H-2B workers. Worker protections also will be strengthened by enhanced transparency throughout the employment process.
The rule will be effective on April 23. It can be viewed at http://s.dol.gov/MZ. Materials, including fact sheets, are available athttp://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/h-2b.cfm and http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/H2BFinalRule/index.htm.
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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Stephen Levin MD - Dies of Cancer

It is with sadness that I report of the passing of Dr. Stephen Levin.  Dr. Levin began an occupational disease evaluation practice in the office of Jack Sall, MD of Paterson NJ over 3 decades ago. He advanced to the Environmental Sciences Laboratory at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine under the leadership of the late Irving J. Selikoff, MD, a pioneer in occupational disease research and more specifically asbestos related illnesses.


After the passing of Dr. Selikoff, Dr. Levin chaired the Environmental Sciences Department and maintained the archives of Dr. Selikoff. Dr. Levin was a leader and advocate for occupational disease research and treatment. His research work in post World Trade Center airborne toxins and disease build the foundation for the passage of the Zadroga 9-11 Health Benefits legislation enacted by Congress 14 months ago.


Joel Shufro, Executive Director of NYCOSH and Bill Henny, NYCOSH Board Chair, made the following statement, "He understood that the health of working people was directly tied to the health of the labor movement - that being organized into union or any other formation - was the first and most important step workers could take to protect their safety and health."


Stephen Levin championed the cause for helping victims of environmental and occupational disease. Ironically, like his predecessor, Dr. Selikoff, he also succumbed  to cancer, the disease that they both battled against for others. Dr. Levin's will be sadly missed but his legacy will on.

See also:
Dr. Stephen Levin dead of cancer NY Daily News
"As the medical director of Mount Sinai Medical Center’s Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dr. Stephen Levin had long known how damaging airborne toxins were to unprotected lungs."
A memorial service will take place Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 4 p.m. at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine's Stern Auditorium, 1468 Madison Avenue (@ E. 100th Street, New York, NY 10029.
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Workers Compensation: A Cash Cow For Medical Providers

Guest Blog
by Julius Young of the California Bar

Are medical treatment recommendations sometimes driven by profit motive?

In my whole career I've met very few injured workers who expressed concern that the treatment recommendations of their doctor were influenced by physician income considerations.

Americans tend to trust their doctors. Some of us grew up watching Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, or the MASH doctors. Others cut their teeth on ER or General Hospital.

Nothing pisses off an injured worker as much as having an outside, non-examining utilization reviewer doctor challenge the recommendations of their doctor.

But the reality is that sometimes medicine and economics are intertwined. Just as insurers want to limit costs, there are some doctors who are happy to push procedures and tests for profit.

In a prior post, "Upcoding", I noted recent investigative reporting by California Watch that documented unusually high rates of billings for "cardiac failure" in some California hospitals:
http://workerscompzone.com/index.php?m=11&y=11

So it was no surprise to see today's article in the Wall Street Journal which documents high rates of spinal surgery procedures in some California hospitals. The article, "In Small California Hospitals, the Marketing of Back Surgery", was written by John Carreyrou, Tom McGinty and Joel Millman.

The article focuses on spinal surgery at Tri-City Regional Medical Center in the city of Hawaiian Gardens which is in southeast Los Angeles County near Long Beach.

According to the Wall Street Journal investigative reporters:

"For an operation known as spinal fusion, which joins two or more vertebrae, the small hospital billed workers' compensation insurers $65 million in 2010, up from less than $3 million three years earlier, state hospital discharge data show.Helping spur the business was Paul Richard Randall, a consultant to whom Tri-City has paid millions of dollars in marketing fees. According to people familiar with his role, it was twofold: bringing surgery cases to the hospital by recruiting surgeons to operate there, and supplying metal implants for the surgeries through distributorships he owned."

The article notes that Randall has been the subject of a federal investigation although charges have apparently not been filed nor have illegal acts been proven.

According to the Journal, many small hospitals are doing lots of workers' comp spinal surgeries, noting that "California employers paid $7.1 billion in insurance premiums to cover their workers' compensation liability in 2010. Spinal-fusion surgery is a growing part of the care these premiums pay for. It accounted for 40% of inpatient hospital charges to the state workers' compensation system in 2010, up from 30% in 2001, a Journal analysis of hospital discharge data shows."

Hospitals that did a large amount of spinal surgeries included university-based hospitals such as UCSF, well known treatment centers such as Cedars Sinai and Scripps La Jolla but also a number of small hospitals around the state.

While it would be unfair to assume that some of the hospitals mentioned in the article are encouraging spinal surgery cases as a "cash cow", the article raises a number of questions worthy of further looks by policymakers.

Spinal hardware costs have already been addressed in a RAND study prepared for CHSWC, "Payment for Hardware Used in Complex Spinal Procedures Under California's Official Medical Fee Schedule", by Barbara O. Wynn and Giacomo Bergamo:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Hardware_comp9.pdf
.....
Julius Young is a partner at Boxer & Gerson LLC and has practiced workers' compensation and social security disability law since 1979 advocating for injured workers and their families.. He is the founder, writer, and editor of an award winning blog on workers’ compensation and wider more far ranging and always engaging political issues, http://www.workerscompzone.com/. The blog has twice been selected as winner or co-winner of the top workers’ comp blog in the US by Lexis/Nexis. He was a Board member of the California State Bar Executive Committee in Workers' Compensation from 2007 to 2010. Julius has acted as a training consultant for the US Hastings Employment Law Center Workers’ Compensation Clinic, has acted as an advisor to Worksafe on workers’ compensation and safety issues, and is currently serving on an Advisory Committee re Rand Institute studies at the request of the California Commission on Health, Safety, and Workers’ Compensation.
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NJ Public Employees Make Loose Sick-Leave Payouts

Public employees in NJ have been the subject of a 14 month legislative impasse that may soon ened along with the payment of unused sick-leave time to retirees. Senate President Stephen Sweeney introduced a bill to end payouts for new employees and end additional payouts for current public employees.

Click here to read:  Bill to end sick leave payouts for public employees is proposed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney
"Last year, The Star-Ledger reviewed eight cities that borrowed to make their payments or made layoffs that drew attention: Newark, Atlantic City, Camden, Jersey City, Trenton, South Brunswick, East Orange and Hackensack. They paid more than $39 million to over 700 employees who cashed in unused sick days and vacation time, about $54,000 for each employee."

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Zadroga Benefits Should Cover Cancer Claims for 9-11 Victims

Jon Stewart advocates for the Zadroga 9-11 Bill to cover cancer claims. The legislation enacted over a year ago provides benefits for those who were in the vicinity of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.


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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

OSHA cites Clara Construction in Jersey City, NJ, for exposing workers to fall hazards

The seal of the United States Department of LaborImage via Wikipedia



The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Clara Construction LLC for one repeat and 10 serious safety violations at a Jersey City work site. These carry total proposed penalties of $46,200. OSHA initiated an inspection as part of a local emphasis program for fall hazards.

"Falls remain one of the leading causes of fatalities on construction sites," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "Employers are responsible for providing workers with basic fall protection to prevent potential injuries."

The repeat violation, with a $9,240 penalty, is failing to protect workers from fall hazards. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The company was cited for the same violation in 2010.

The serious violations, with $36,960 in penalties, include failing to protect workers from fall and impalement hazards, ensure scaffold platforms were laid correctly, provide proper ladder rung construction, make sure guardrails were at sufficient heights and makeshift devices were not created to increase platform height, inspect scaffolds, provide proper scaffold training, provide guardrails near wall holes and provide protection around surface holes. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

For detailed information on fall protection standards, visit OSHA's website at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/index.html.

Clara Construction LLC, which employs 14 workers, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Parsippany office at 973-263-1003.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.


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Monday, February 6, 2012

Compensation Blog Launched To Help Iowa Workers



A new blog has been launched in Iowa to help injured workers and their families to learn more about the workers' compensation system and understand what benefits are available. The Iowa Workers' Compensation Blog, published by the Law Firm of Paul McAndrew offers up to date information and friendly tips to assist those disabled at work.

Paul announced that "...Workers’ Compensation has traditionally been a primary remedy for injured workers throughout Iowa. My firm has proudly participated in assisting injured workers’ and their families in obtaining benefits following industrial accidents and occupational exposures. This blog, as well as our newly launched, and client friendly, social media network is yet another effort to provide modern quality service to our clients and the community that we serve. We hope that you take the opportunity to participate in our new adventure in provide helpful and important information."

Paul J. McAndrew, Jr. is the founder of the Paul McAndrew Law Firm, focused on Iowa workers' compensation law as well as social security disability and employment law. Paul is an Iowanative and double degree graduate of Iowa University. Having practiced law for over 25 years, Paul is annually recognized by Best Lawyers in America. He is presiding President of the Workers Injury Law & Advocacy Group, a national organization of workers' compensation attorneys dedicated to protecting the rights of injured workers. Paul is also a frequently published author and educator on the topic of workers' compensation.

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