Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Timely Workers’ Comp Reforms
Jun 20 2011 // Prices for workers’ compensation insurance are inching up after decreasing and then flat-lining for the past few years, according to Towers Watson. The global professional services firm’s most recent Commercial...
Report: Locking Prison Cells Didn’t Injure Guards in Illinois
Jun 20 2011 // A newspaper’s ongoing investigation has found an expert report, commissioned by the state of Illinois, showed that locking and unlocking prison cells didn’t cause repetitive trauma injuries in guards. The...
Illinois Passes Workers’ Comp Reform but Some Say More Is Needed
Jun 20 2011 // Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn plans to sign a major overhaul of Illinois workers’ compensation system that he said will mean “significant savings” for the state, but at least one insurance carrier trade group...
Loophole in Missouri Law Puts Employers at Risk for Occupational Disease Lawsuits
Jun 20 2011 // Employee Lawsuits Are Expected to Increase Missouri employers, including small- and mid-sized companies, should be aware of a loophole in Missouri law putting companies at risk for lawsuits filed by current and former...
Calif. Workers’ Comp Total Temporary Disability Rates to Increase
Jun 20 2011 // California workers’ compensation total temporary disability (TTD) rates are likely to rise, thanks to new U.S. Department of Labor data that shows California’s State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) rose more than...
Calif. State Fund Seeks to Offer Workers’ Comp in Other States
Jun 20 2011 // California State Compensation Insurance Fund is pursuing legislation to allow it to offer coverage to California employers who have out-of-state employees. Currently, California-based businesses insured with State Fund...
Commercial Insurance Prices Still Flat But Workers’ Comp Moving Up
Jun 20 2011 // Commercial insurance prices were relatively flat for the ninth consecutive quarter, and new data confirm the deterioration of loss ratios in accident-year 2010. Price reductions continued for commercial property and...
Court Approves Majestic Insurance Rehabilitation Plan
Jun 20 2011 // A San Francisco Superior Court has approved California Insurance Commissioner’s rehabilitation plan for Majestic Insurance Co., a failed workers’ compensation insurance carrier. Under the plan, Majestic’s...
As Tech Devices Shrink, Workers’ Comp Exposure Grows
Jun 20 2011 // Employers Need Rules for Mobile Employees Employers who supply their employees with company cell phones, laptops, BlackBerries, iPads and other portable devices could be in for a surprise if an employee is injured while...
Timely Workers’ Comp Reforms
Jun 20 2011 // Prices for workers’ compensation insurance are inching up after decreasing and then flat-lining for the past few years, according to Towers Watson. The global professional services firm’s most recent Commercial...
Calif. Appeals Court Declines to Review Workers’ Comp Decision
Jun 17 2011 // Fifth District Court of Appeal in California has refused to review the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board’s(WCAB) en banc decision in State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) v. WCAB (Almaraz). This means that...
West Virginia Reports State Agencies’ Workers’ Compensation Data
Jun 17 2011 // State figures show the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety had the worst workers’ compensation record among state agencies over the past five years. The department had $10.8 million in...
Wash. Governor Signs Workers’ Comp Reform Measure
Jun 16 2011 // Washington employers who provide temporary work that allows an injured worker to “Stay at Work” while recovering from an injury will be eligible to be reimbursed for half of the worker’s wages. This new...
Ohio BWC: 7 Workers’ Compensation Fraud Convictions in May
Jun 16 2011 // Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Stephen Buehrer announced that seven individuals were convicted or pleaded guilty to charges related to defrauding Ohio’s workers’ compensation...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau Caught in Pensions’ Currency Dispute
Jun 16 2011 // Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel has asked for a state investigation into whether banks may have manipulated foreign exchange rates charged to Ohio pension funds and the state’s injured worker insurance, potentially...
Alabama Lumber Company Faces $2 Million in OSHA Fines
Jun 16 2011 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is issuing 13 citations and $1,939,000 in fines to a Phenix City, Alabama lumber yard for 24 safety violations, including exposing employees to amputation and fall...
U.S. Industry Reserve Redundancy at $22 Billion: Aon Benfield
Jun 16 2011 // The overall U.S. insurance industry reserve redundancy is $22.0 billion versus $21.9 billion at year-end 2009, after the industry released $10.5 billion of reserves during 2010, a new study of year-end 2010 data shows. The...
Texas Workers’ Comp May Enforcements Bring More than $70K in Fines
Jun 15 2011 // Final disciplinary actions taken by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) for May 2011 resulted in more than $70,000 in fines. Division of Workers’ Compensation final...
Texas Woman Sentenced in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case
Jun 15 2011 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that a Travis County district court sentenced Ellynn A. Ogilvie of Houston to five years of probation, 450 community service hours and a $2,000 fine for workers’ compensation...
OSHA Proposes $243K Fine for Maine Contractor
Jun 15 2011 // Federal workplace safety officials are proposing that a Lewiston, Maine roofing contractor be fined $243,000 for alleged safety violations at its work sites. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the...
