Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Missouri Employers Will See Reduced Workers’ Compensation Rates in 2024
Nov 30 2023 // The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance said that employers should see a reduction in workers’ compensation rates in 2024, the third straight year of declining rates. The NCCI recently proposed an overall...
State Supreme Court Upholds Attorney Fees in Tennessee Workers’ Comp Case
Nov 30 2023 // In what could be seen as a rare win for the claimants’ bar in Tennessee, the state Supreme Court upheld a $50,500 award of attorney fees, an amount that is almost double the workers’ compensation benefits paid...
New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Rates to Fall 3.9% for 2024
Nov 28 2023 // New Jersey’s insurance regulator has approved a 3.9% reduction in workers’ compensation and employer liability rates starting January 1, 2024. The approved statewide rate change is based on the latest financial...
No Change in California Workers’ Compensation Weekly TD Rates for 2024
Nov 27 2023 // The U.S. Department of Labor has issued new data showing California’s State Average Weekly Wage edged down 0.48 percent from $1,650 to $1,642 in the 12 months ending March 31, 2023. The California Workers’...
New Jersey Supreme Court: Workers’ Compensation Covers Commuting Employee’s Car Crash Injury
Nov 27 2023 // Typically, workers who are injured during their commute to work aren’t eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. The New Jersey Supreme Court highlighted an exception to that rule in a unanimous decision...
New York Contractor Faces $522K in OSHA Penalties for Exposing Workers to Fall Hazards
Nov 22 2023 // A federal workplace safety investigation alleges that a Huntington, New York contractor could have prevented a roofer’s fatal fall at a Glen Cove worksite in April by following legally required safeguards designed to...
Florida Man Sentenced for Role In Workers’ Compensation Fraud Conspiracy
Nov 21 2023 // A federal judge has sentenced Ramon Paz of Lakeland, Florida to 33 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud to avoid paying for workers’ compensation insurance. According to the U.S....
Study: Medical Payments to Treat Injured Workers in Texas Stable Over Five-Year Period
Nov 17 2023 // Medical payments to treat injured workers in Texas were stable from 2016 to 2021, according to a new study from the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). The study, CompScope Medical Benchmarks for Texas,...
OSHA Faults Pharmaceutical Manufacturer in Massachusetts Plant’s Fatal Explosion
Nov 17 2023 // A Newburyport, Massachusetts pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer and its parent company could have prevented an employee’s death from an explosion but lacked the required safeguards in a chemical manufacturing...
In Pennsylvania, Workers’ Compensation Now Pays for CBD Oil Treatment
Nov 17 2023 // Eight months after it ruled that medical marijuana is covered under workers’ compensation, a Pennsylvania appeals court has concluded that an injured worker’s cost of CBD oil is also reimbursable. A...
Texas Department of Insurance Proposes Amendments to Benefit Texas Military Forces in Workers’ Comp System
Nov 16 2023 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation’s (DWC) General Counsel notified workers’ compensation system participants that DWC is proposing amendments to the Texas Administrative...
Connecticut Approves 10% Rate Reductions for Workers’ Compensation for 2024
Nov 16 2023 // Businesses in Connecticut will receive a nearly 10% decrease in rates for workers’ compensation insurance beginning on January 1, 2024. The Connecticut Insurance Department has approved an annual workers’...
Florida OIR Approves Record Workers’ Comp Rate Cut, Despite Roofers’ Concerns
Nov 15 2023 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and the state insurance commissioner have approved a 15.1% average decrease in workers’ compensation rates, despite calls from roofing contractors to freeze rates for a...
At SpaceX, Worker Injuries Soar in Elon Musk’s Rush to Mars
Nov 13 2023 // One windy night at Elon Musk’s SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, Lonnie LeBlanc and his co-workers realized they had a problem. They needed to transport foam insulation to the rocket company’s main hangar but...
Georgia Law Officers Call for Full Salary Benefits Under Workers’ Comp
Nov 7 2023 // Georgia law enforcement leaders are urging state lawmakers to grant injured officers their full salaries while they recover, a move that could significantly alter the nature of workers’ compensation insurance. News...
Oregon OSHA Cites Contractor for Repeatedly Violating Fall Hazard Requirements
Oct 30 2023 // Oregon OSHA cited Forest Grove contractor J&K Roofing Co. $39,000 for repeatedly violating a requirement to provide protection to safeguard workers from fall hazards that could injure or kill them. The citation...
Lawyers Argue Over Workers’ Compensation for Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old
Oct 30 2023 // Lawyers sparred in a Virginia courtroom Friday over whether a teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student should get only workers` compensation for her serious injuries. Abby Zwerner is suing Newport News Public Schools...
Suit by Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Student Asks If Workers’ Compensation Is Enough
Oct 27 2023 // A heated debate has emerged about the once-unimaginable shooting of a teacher by her 6-year-old student: How should the school district take care of the teacher? Should she only get workers’ compensation for her...
Kentucky Approves 18th-straight Decrease in Workers’ Comp Loss Costs
Oct 26 2023 // Kentucky’s Insurance Commissioner has approved a 6.4% decrease in average workers’ compensation loss costs for the state, making it the 18th consecutive drop in costs for most Kentucky employers. “The...
Asbestos Wrongful Death Claim Allowed Against Employer as Workers’ Comp Exception
Oct 24 2023 // A Connecticut appeals court has revived a wrongful death claim that tests a narrow exception to the state law that makes workers’ compensation the exclusive remedy for most workplace deaths and injuries. Harold...
