Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Officers Exempt from Workers’ Comp But Some Carriers Charging Anyway?
Aug 12 2022 // Tradespeople who call themselves and their workers “independent contractors” have long been an issue for the workers’ compensation industry, often cutting carriers out of premium and leaving injured...
Department of Labor Reopens Comment Period on Arizona’s OSHA Plan
Aug 11 2022 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reopening the comment period for an additional 60 days on the proposal to reconsider and revoke the final approval of Arizona’s...
Pennsylvania Releases List of Workers’ Compensation Scofflaws
Aug 10 2022 // Pennsylvania officials have identified three dozen employers that are currently not carrying workers’ compensation insurance as required by state law. Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor & Industry (L&I)...
Nebraska Recycling Company Fined $338,000 for OSHA Violations
Aug 10 2022 // A 20-year-old worker’s attempt at clearing a jam in an industrial cardboard baler at a Grand Island, Nebraska waste disposal company turned tragic when the worker fell into the baler, became caught and suffered...
Ohio Bill Defines Work-From-Home Workers’ Comp Rule
Aug 10 2022 // An Ohio law set to go into effect next month amends workers’ compensation benefit requirements for employees who sustain an injury while working from home. House Bill 447 states than a work-from-home employee’s...
Jeff Nelson Appointed as Texas Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation
Aug 9 2022 // Texas Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Jeff Nelson as the Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) for a term set to expire on February 1, 2023. TDI’s Division of...
Texas Manufacturer Faces $249,000 in OSHA Penalties
Aug 9 2022 // A Jacksonville wood crate and pallet manufacturer’s history of workplace safety violations continues after federal inspectors found the company exposed workers to amputation hazards in its February 2022...
Surveillance, Posts Lead to Arrest of California Mechanic for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Aug 5 2022 // Richard James McGee, 47, of San Bernardino, California, was arraigned today on two felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud after a California Department of Insurance investigation found he allegedly...
Eight Contractors Charged in Florida Workers’ Comp Sting Operation
Aug 4 2022 // Eight Florida men have been charged with contracting without a license and failing to obtain workers’ compensation insurance, after a sting operation led by state and local authorities. The Manatee County...
Workers’ Compensation Pays for Home Modifications. What About a New Home?
Aug 4 2022 // Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation law authorizes modifications to a home to accommodate an injured employee’s needs. It also may require paying for a new van for a disabled worker. However, does the...
Ohio Manufacturer Faces $480,000 in OSHA Penalties
Aug 3 2022 // Federal safety investigators found workers at General Aluminum Mfg. Co.’s Wapakoneta site exposed to machine hazards, just 36 days after they found similar violations at the aluminum vehicle parts...
Texas Department of Workers’ Comp Adopts Claim Electronic Data Interchange
Aug 2 2022 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) adopted the Texas claim EDI release 3.1.4 standard on March 9, 2022. As a result, DWC’s designated data collection agent, Insurance...
Wisconsin Roofing Contractor Fined $94,000 for OSHA Violations
Aug 1 2022 // Despite the potentially deadly consequences of its actions, an Appleton, Wisconsin contractor allowed three roofers to work at heights up to 18 feet without anchoring their fall protection, making it useless in preventing...
California Insurance Commissioner Leaves Workers’ Comp Benchmark Rate
Aug 1 2022 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara adopted and issued a rate for workers’ compensation insurance pure premium that he said reflects California’s still-recovering economy. Lara’s action...
Freight Broker Sues Liberty Mutual for ‘Excessive’ Work Comp Premiums
Jul 29 2022 // An Illinois freight broker has filed a lawsuit accusing Liberty Mutual of overcharging it by demanding payment of workers’ compensation premiums for independent contractors who are ineligible for benefits. Virnich...
Washington Auto Repair Owner Caught 2nd Time in Workers’ Comp Scam
Jul 29 2022 // A Kennewick, Washington, business owner pleaded guilty to a felony for failing to provide workers’ compensation insurance for his employees for the second time. Benton-Franklin Superior Court Judge Norma Rodriguez...
OSHA Investigating After Construction Worker Electrocuted at Charlotte Airport
Jul 28 2022 // A construction worker at a North Carolina airport was electrocuted, according to a California-based company for whom he worked. The Charlotte Observer reports Rosendin Electric, a company based in San Jose, California,...
Report: California Workers’ Comp Written Premium Down in 2021
Jul 27 2022 // Written premium for 2021 was 1.4% below that for 2020 and is the lowest since 2012, a new report shows. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California issued its quarterly report on written premium,...
Wisconsin Insurance Premiums for Worker’s Comp Decline
Jul 26 2022 // Wisconsin companies will pay 8.47% less in worker’s compensation insurance rates starting Oct. 1, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reported. The lower rates reportedly reflect continued worker safety...
Faking Workers’ Comp Injuries Costs Washington Logger $160K, Detention
Jul 21 2022 // A Cowlitz County, Washington, logger who reportedly faked injuries to collect workers’ compensation benefits was ordered to repay the state more than $160,000. James Joseph Thomasson, 53, has also been ordered to...
