Workers compensation and related news from the weblog world

March 20th, 2004 by Julie Ferguson

Adjuster.com brings us the story of California’s $7 billion workers compensation miscalculation.
“The reform savings calculations resulting from the late last year (September 2003) Reform and subsequent predicted figures were recalculated by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) and found to contain egregious errors which retranslated into a newly predicted potential savings for this year, 2004. The prediction in savings is to about 7 billion dollars overall for the Workers’ Compensation system.”

Jottings By an Employer’s Lawyer points to an upcoming debate over domestic violence legislation that would have FMLA type implications for employers.
“Although domestic violence is certainly a problem and one that does need to be addressed by both the employer community and Congress it should be done in a much more organized fashion than passing a complex, expansive bill in the middle of an election year. The legislation would cover victims of sexual and domestic violence, which is defined to include “an individual who has been a victim of domestic or sexual violence and an individual whose family or household member has been a victim of domestic or sexual violence.” Those protected would be entitled to Title VII type protection against discrimination, FMLA type leave and a liberalization of requirements for unemployment.”

Jordan Barab’s Confined Space has many worthwhile items, as usual. Today, he has an item about the Mexican government’s reaction to the AP story about the workplace death toll of Mexican workers, a follow-up to an item that he covered earlier in the week.
He has an item on a new publication from NIOSH, “Does it really work? How to evaluate safety and health changes in the workplace.” And he’s also been blogging blow-by-blow coverage of the recent popcorn lung suit, in which he notes that “Workers in this country are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine. The health effects of chemical aren’t adequately studied, and when they are, the results are hidden — until someone notices that workers are starting to get sick and die.”

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