Workers Compensation Laws

Specific cases are categorized as temporary partial, temporary total, permanent partial, or permanent total. Other categories of benefits include retraining incentive benefits for employees who may have specific injuries. These benefits are paid for a limited period of time to aid the injured in pursuing additional education or training. Vocational rehabilitation services may be offered to employees who are eligible for permanent total disability benefits and actively participate in a vocational rehabilitation program. Survivors of employees killed in industrial accidents may be entitled to their benefits as well. 

Even businesses with only a few employees are required to carry workers compensation insurance. Some states require companies to provide benefits even for one part-time employee. A large company having the appropriate financial resources to cover the anticipated losses of self-insurance is one of the few exceptions to the requirement of purchasing workers compensation insurance from an outside carrier. 

Who is covered by workers compensation The following is an example of the coverage that exists in one state  

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OSHAhas estimated a safe maximum noise level of 85 dB. The time-weighted average (TWA) is an exposure for an 8-h to a noise level not exceeding 90 dB. If this level exceeds 85 dB, OSHA requires the employer to institute a hearing conservation program (HCP). Therefore, if a company wants to avoid loss claims under worker compensation laws, it must not only meet the prescribed legal standards, but also attempt to reduce noise to the lowest possible level (< 80 dB). 

Individual state workers compensation act Whether the safety and health professional possesses a direct or indirect responsibility for workers compensation claims, it is imperative that an expert-level knowledge of the applicable workers compensation laws and regulations for each state in which employees are working be acquired and maintained. Additionally, safety and health professionals should possess a thorough knowledge of all aspects of the workers compensation administration and management. 

Likewise, variations in HRM practices may change woiker safety behavior and the firm s safety costs. Consider the time path of injury benefits, shown in Figure 1.1, typical of workers compensation laws in most states—including Minnesota, from which we draw our sample for this study. 

Real-wage replacement rate was used to capture both wage and expected workers compensation benefit effects on the dependent variable. In accordance with the Minnesota workers compensation law, rate was calculated by the following formula (Mirmesota WC income benefit schedule used 1992 analysis of workers compensation laws, U.S. Chamber of Commerce) ... 

Milestones in the development of the safety movement in the United States include the following first recorded safety program in 1892, creation of the Bureau of Mines in 1907, passage of the first effective workers compensation law in the United States in 1911, and... 

These laws include the Civil Service Reform Act, Immigration Reform and Control Act, Executive Order 11246, certain sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Civil Rights Act of 1964, Family and Medical Leave Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, and sections of the Rehabilitation Act, Social Security Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and workers compensation law. 

See generally, Larson, L. K. and Larson, A., Workers Compensation Law Cases, Materials and Text, 3rd ed., Matthew Bender, 2000. 

State workers compensation laws, safety professionals should be aware that when an employee files a complaint with OSHA or files a workers compensation claim, the employee should always be treated the same as all other employees. 

An occupational injury or illness resulting in sufficient disability to require the payment of compensation as prescribed by law. A work injury or illness for which compensation benefits are payable to the worker or beneficiary under worker compensation laws. 

A quasi-judicial system where employers have a statutory obligation to pay medical expenses, disability, and other benefits for work-related injuries or illness. Administrative aspects and extent of coverage of workers compensation laws vary from state to state. 

The Federal Employment Compensation Act provides workers compensation for nonmilitary, federal employees. Many of its provisions remain typical of most workers compensation laws. Many times awards remain limited to disability or death sustained while in the performance of the employee s duties. The act covers medical expenses due to the disability and may require... 

Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) This agency develops and recommends standards for state workers compensation laws and provides technical help to states. It also administers three workers ... 

Workers compensation laws followed and several states and the federal government passed them. Courts declared initial laws unconstitutional over issues of due process and mandatory participation by employers. State laws that followed were primarily elective laws. Employers could elect to come under the law. The first constitutionally acceptable workers compensation law was passed in 1911. Since then, all states have passed such laws. States continue to change laws to include more workers, to extend and modify benefits, change administrative procedures and restructure benefit methods. States also look to reduce workers compensation costs to compete for employers. 

There are many differences among workers compensation laws. Changes occur continuously. An annual report summarizes the changes in provisions, benefits and changes. 

Today there are two major types of workers compensation laws compulsory and elective. A compulsory law requires each employer that is under its jurisdiction to accept its provisions and provide specified benefits. Under an elective law an employer has the right to accept or reject participation. If an employer rejects compliance with the law, the employer loses the three common-law defenses and becomes virtually defenseless. In effect, elective laws are compulsory. Most early workers compensation laws found constitutional were elective. Nearly all are now compulsory for employers. 

There are at least 53 separate workers compensation laws in the United States. Attempts to standardize compensation laws or create federal standards for them have not progressed very far. Each of the 50 states has its own workers compensation law. Some states change their laws to reduce the overall costs for employers in comparison to neighboring states. That is a strategy to entice employers to relocate in their state or to stay there. 

Today workers compensation laws cover about 90% of aU wage and salary employees. Some laws exclude certain categories of workers from protection. The exceptions vary among the different state and federal laws. Most common exceptions are domestic servants, casual (short-term, temporary) laborers, agricultural or seasonal farm laborers, volunteer workers, and workers covered by other laws (railroad and maritime workers). The laws exclude most professional athletes because they often have injury compensation clauses in their contracts. In many states, employers with fewer than two to five employees are also exempt. Under most laws, employers may elect to cover excluded employees voluntarily. In some states, exempted workers must agree with an employer who elects coverage voluntarily. 

Most workers compensation laws cover minors. The definitions of a minor vary slightly. Some states consider minors below minimum age as illegally employed. For them, the law may require maximum compensation benefits at double or triple the standard rates. This provides a penalty for the employer and accounts for lost future earning capacity of the minor. An employer may face additional penalties under the law if an illegally employed minor becomes injured on the job. 

The main goal of workers compensation laws is to compensate workers for injuries caused by accidents arising out of and in the course of employment. This goal creates several issues about eligibility What is an accident What is an injury What does out of and in the course of employment include There are many interpretations to these questions. 

Accident and Injury As noted in Chapter 3, the term accident suggests an event of very short duration. This was the meaning for early interpretations under workers compensation claims. For most workers compensation laws today, accident may refer to extended exposures and recognize other factors. In the early 1980s, claims increased significantly for cumulative trauma injuries. These disorders result from repeated trauma to the part of the body affected, such as the arm of a carpenter swinging a hammer. More recently, claims for various forms of job stress have been on the rise. 

Most workers compensation laws recognize four classes of disability temporary total, permanent partial, permanent total, and death. Some states recognize an additional class temporary partial. Definitions for and interpretations of each class vary by compensation law. 

Workers compensation laws provide payments for medical expenses, burial expenses, loss of wages, and impairments. Most provide payment for physical and vocational rehabilitation. Some provide for mental rehabilitation. 

Many participate in workers compensation organizations. Table 6-1 is an incomplete list of workers compensation organizations. Their publications and resources provide details about workers compensation laws, management, and... 

When were constitutionally acceptable workers compensation laws first passed in the United States ... 

Analysis of Workers Compensation Laws, Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Washington, DC, annual. 

In some cases, a defendant may bring additional defendants into the case by filing additional complaints against them. This sometimes happens when an employee files a lawsuit against the manufacturer of a product that injured the employee. The manufacturer may sue the employer. Under workers compensation law, an employee cannot sue an employer for an on-the-job injury. 

The workers compensation laws are designed to compensate victims of workplace accidents by forcing the employer to pay the workers money for injuries and time lost. Workers compensation is considered no-fault insurance. No fault is admitted on the part of either the employer or the employee when a claim is made. Prior to passage of these laws, the only recourse a worker had was to sue the employer under civil law, a form of common law. Common law is a body of unwritten laws based on judicial decisions of the past, as opposed to statutory law that is prepared and enacted by legislative bodies. In early common law suits, employers successfully utilized the following defenses ... 

These three common law defenses were eliminated after workers compensation laws were enacted by each state. Employers accepted this legislation because in order to collect compensation, employees had to waive their rights to sue. Employees accepted the legislation because it eliminated the requirement to sue the employer in order to collect compensation. By 1948, every state had passed workers compensation legislation. When those laws were passed they were referred to as workmen s compensation laws. Today, they are referred to as workers compensation laws. 

Prior to the passage of the workers compensation laws, the full cost of production was not borne by the employer, but instead was passed on to the employee. Rather than engineer a solution to a sim-... 

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