Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
OSHA Revises Reporting Rule for Worker Injuries
Sep 12 2014 // The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a final rule requiring employers to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss...
4 New Workers’ Comp Arbitrators Appointed in Illinois
Sep 9 2014 // Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn appointed four new arbitrators to the Workers’ Compensation Commission: Maria Bocanegra is an attorney at Katz Friedman, specializing in workers’ compensation. She previously worked as a...
4 Strategies for Restoring Workers’ Compensation Profitability
Sep 9 2014 // Selling workers’ compensation comes at a price. In 2013, underwriters generated a loss of one percent for every premium dollar written. As such, agents also face many financial constraints, making this line of...
S. Dakota Director: Don’t Charge Work Comp Premiums for Independent Contractors
Sep 9 2014 // Merle Scheiber, director of South Dakota’s Insurance Division, has issued a reminder to workers’ compensation insurers that bona fide independent contractors are not required to carry workers’ comp...
9/11 Responders Urged to Register for N.Y. Workers’ Comp Benefits
Sep 8 2014 // Elected officials and union activists in New York are urging Sept. 11 responders to sign up for New York worker compensation benefits. They say that those who worked around the World Trade Center site should enroll with...
Report: 1-in-6 Construction Workers in California Part of ‘Informal Economy’
Sep 8 2014 // A report by the nonprofit research group Economic Roundtable released over the Labor Day holiday found that one-in-six construction workers in California fell into the state’s “informal economy,” costing...
Employment Growth Leads to Workers’ Comp Benefit, Cost Uptick
Sep 8 2014 // Workers’ compensation benefits rose by 1.3 percent to $61.9 billion in 2012, while employer costs rose by 6.9 percent to $83.2 billion, according to a report released last month by the National Academy of Social...
Marijuana and Workers’ Comp
Sep 8 2014 // There are some who believe medical marijuana and the workplace are a potent mix just waiting to be stirred as increasingly more states approve the herb and its derivatives for medicinal use. Not only are states approving...
Kentucky Approves Lower Workers’ Comp Loss Costs
Sep 8 2014 // In Kentucky, workers’ compensation loss costs used by insurers in figuring rates to charge employers will decrease for the ninth straight year. Kentucky Insurance Commissioner Sharon P. Clark said that the Department...
Judge’s Ruling Leaves Florida Workers’ Comp System in Limbo
Sep 8 2014 // Business interests are expected to appeal a recent ruling by a Florida circuit court judge that the state’s workers’ compensation law is unconstitutional because it no longer provides adequate benefits to...
South Carolina: Kickball Injury Covered by Workers’ Compensation
Sep 8 2014 // The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that an employee injured during a company kickball game is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The court found that Stephen Whigham’s kickball injury was covered...
Florida Weighs 2.5% Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease
Sep 8 2014 // Florida workers’ compensation writers have recommended a 2.5 percent rate decrease for 2015. The Office of Insurance Regulation has received the filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which...
Delaware WC Panel Begins Work
Sep 8 2014 // A Delaware panel established to oversee efforts to keep the state’s workers’ comp rates affordable is getting down to work. Delaware’s Workers Compensation Oversight Panel is charged with creating a new...
New Hampshire Gov. Hassan Creates Workers’ Compensation Commission
Sep 5 2014 // New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan has issued an executive order creating a new commission to recommend ways to reduce the state’s workers’ compensation medical costs. The new commission, called the Commission to...
Conn. Auditors: WCC Charged $450K Assessment Without Legislative Authority
Sep 4 2014 // A new report from Connecticut state auditors said the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) improperly charged $450,000 to workers’ comp insurers and self-insured employers last fiscal year to...
Workers’ Comp Fraud Charges Filed Against Oklahoma Woman
Sep 4 2014 // Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt says his office has filed charges against a Midwest City woman, accusing of her allegedly attempting to defraud the state’s workers’ compensation system. Pruitt announced...
Missouri Insurance Director: Workers’ Comp Insurance Costs Likely to Fall
Sep 4 2014 // Missouri businesses could see a decline in their workers’ compensation insurance premiums next year. The state insurance department says a new report by the National Council on Compensation Insurance indicates that...
WCRI Study Examines Trends in N.Y. Workers’ Comp System
Sep 4 2014 // The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) in Massachusetts has published a new report that examines the performance of the New York workers’ compensation system following reforms enacted in 2007. The new...
Workers’ Comp Loss Costs Declining Again in Oklahoma
Sep 3 2014 // For the second straight year, workers’ compensation loss costs used by insurers to determine rates for employers will show an overall decrease in Oklahoma. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has...
California State Funds Continue to Shake Up Cat Bond Market
Sep 3 2014 // California’s recent “Winequake” brought the public’s focus back to the state’s significant vulnerability to seismic events. Fortunately, the tremors, while costly, did not tally a high human...
