Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

New York Contractor Sentenced for Defrauding State Workers’ Comp Fund

Sep 20 2023 // A drywall contractor has been sentenced to six months in jail for defrauding the New York State workers’ compensation insurance fund out of almost $3 million in premiums over an eight-year period.The Manhattan...

Feds Tell Banks to Be on Alert for Payroll, Work Comp Premium Fraud Schemes

Sep 15 2023 // A US Treasury Department unit that investigates financial crimes has directed banks to send alerts when they come across suspicious activity that indicates a business is using check cashing companies to avoid payroll taxes...

People Moves: RT Specialty Promotes Mitchell to President of Workers’ Comp Practice; Wu Joins Axis as Head of N.A. Specialty Markets Distribution

Sep 13 2023 // RT Specialty Promotes Mitchell to President of Workers’ Compensation PracticeRT Specialty promoted Jim Mitchell to national workers’ compensation practice president. Mitchell has been with RT Specialty since...

Iowa Men Face Felony Charges for Workers’ Comp Insurance Fraud

Sep 13 2023 // A pair of Iowa men were charged with insurance fraud following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.Trey Wysocki, age 40, of New Virginia was charged with one count of Insurance Fraud...

Injured Worker Upheld in Refusing Suitable Return Job Because He Opposed Vaccination

Sep 12 2023 // It was reasonable for an injured employee who is returning to work to refuse a job that accommodated his disability because he had personal and religious objections to getting a COVID-19 vaccine.The Virginia Workers’...

New York Ups Workers’ Compensation Benefits; Targets Wage Theft, ‘Captive Audience’ Meetings

Sep 11 2023 // New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed three bills into law that affect workers, including one raising the minimum disability benefit under workers’ compensation over three years.The second new law prohibits employers...

MS Workers’ Comp Trust Can Seek Reimbursement From Driver in State Official’s Injury

Sep 8 2023 // A workers’ compensation fund for Mississippi state agencies can take subrogation action against the driver of an all-terrain vehicle that badly injured the then-chief of staff to the state’s lieutenant...

Oregon Workers’ Comp Costs to Drop 11th-Straight Year

Sep 8 2023 // Oregon employers will pay on average less for workers’ compensation coverage, according to an update from the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.The decline marks 11 years of average decreases in the...

Delaware High Court OKs Lien Against Uninsured Motorist Benefits in Workers’ Compensation Case

Sep 7 2023 // The Delaware Supreme Court has broken with its own precedent to rule that a workers’ compensation insurance carrier may assert a lien against benefits an injured employee recovers from other sources.The particular...

Three Georgia Court Decisions Have Some Workers’ Comp Defense Lawyers Worried

Sep 4 2023 // After three major Georgia appeals court decisions have gone against employers in the last five years, some insurance defense attorneys are concerned that the state’s workers’ compensation laws have become...

People Moves: Caro Joins Alliant Insurance Services as VP; LUBA Workers’ Comp Hires McCrary

Sep 1 2023 // Caro Joins Alliant Insurance Services as VPJohn Caro has joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president in its Alliant Americas division. Caro is based in Lafayette, La. Alliant is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. Caro...

Washington Roofer Who Faked Injury Pleads Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud

Sep 1 2023 // A Pierce County, Washington man who removed and installed roofs while claiming he was too injured to work has pleaded guilty to stealing workers’ compensation benefits.Patrick Dean Farthing, 64, pleaded guilty...

Connecticut Adds Cancer Presumption to Firefighters’ Workers’ Compensation

Aug 31 2023 // A new Connecticut law making it easier for firefighters who develop cancer to receive workers’ compensation benefits will go into effect on October 1, 2023.Approved as part of the state budget bill, this law creates...

Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Announces 3.9% Rate Reduction for Public Employers in 2024

Aug 30 2023 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation announced a 3.9% rate reduction for the state’s public employers, a rate cut that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.The rate reduction will result in nearly $8 million...

New Hampshire Workers’ Compensation Rates to Drop 14% in 2024

Aug 29 2023 // The New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID) recently approved a workers’ compensation rate proposal that will reduce voluntary loss costs by 14% on average.The new rates will apply to policies effective starting on...

OSHA Orders Vermont Firm to Rehire Environmental Whistleblower, Pay Damages

Aug 29 2023 // In early June 2022, an employee of a Vermont agricultural equipment company observed the company pumping wastewater from the facility’s service bays onto the ground bordering the Winooski River in Berlin and was...

Kentucky Supreme Court: Docs Must Bill for Injured Workers Within 45 Days

Aug 29 2023 // Medical providers who treat injured workers in Kentucky must bill the employer/insurer within 45 days, even before a workers’ compensation claim has been filed and before an employer’s liability has been...

NCCI Calls for Average 15% Decrease in Florida Workers’ Compensation Rates

Aug 29 2023 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance has proposed an average 15.1% decrease in rates for Florida, starting Jan. 1, the latest and one of the largest reduction recommendations in more than a decade of rate...

OSHA Investigates Chemical Solvent Leak at GM-LG Battery Plant in Ohio

Aug 24 2023 // The U.S. workplace safety regulator said on Wednesday it was investigating a recent chemical solvent leak at an Ohio battery plant jointly owned by General Motors GM.N and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution...

Dollar Tree Inc. Agrees to Improve Safety and Pay $1.35M in Fines: OSHA

Aug 23 2023 // Dollar Tree Inc. and subsidiary Family Dollar have entered an agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to make operational changes within two years.The Department of Labor’s OSHA said...