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The California Labor & Workforce Development Agency has released updated information and resources for workers and employers impacted by COVID-19. Visit their website for more information: labor.ca.gov/coronavirus2019 In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor has released updated information to help with recent nationally enacted legislation, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. For more information, […]

Insurance Commissioner Lara Issues Alert About Immigrant Workers’ Eligibility for Workers’ Compensation Benefits for COVID-19 Exposure or Illness LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today alerted insurance companies that all workers affected by COVID-19 on the job are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits regardless of their immigration status. This includes workers engaged in […]

If California wants to increase unemployment insurance benefits to help workers cope with the economic fallout from the new coronavirus, the higher payments could be delayed up to a year because the state employment department isn’t prepared for the job. A new report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found the information technology systems at […]

An unemployed worker in California will likely find their first benefit payment will take “much longer” than the typical 21 days, according to a report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office report released Monday. Under normal economic conditions, the state Employment Development Department “typically issues about 80 percent of first benefit payments within 21 days […]

Workers’ compensation is the largest premium segment in the U.S. commercial insurance market. Workers’ compensation, mandated by law in 49 U.S. states to provide employer reimbursements for injuries occurring in the course of employment, represents one of the largest nondiscretionary expenses for labor-centric firms. Yet these premiums are dwarfed by the overall cost of occupational […]

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’ has made the rate decision. It is the last of his tenure. It calls for an 8.4% cut in California’s workers’ comp advisory pure premium rates. The change is effective for policies that renew or incept on or after Jan. 1, 2019. California Employers will be happy. The cut is far […]

Senate Bill 1160, signed into law in 2016, increased control of medical lien claims in exchange for less restrictive Utilization Review (UR) at the start of the claim. It also required accreditation by July 1, 2018, for any utilization review organization operating in California to ensure they issue timely decisions, review all pertinent medical records, […]

The numbers in the insurance industry’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s latest report tell a story… The average rate charged to employers per $100 of payroll is down 10% in the last year and down 17% since 2015. The average indemnity pay out to our clients is up 13% in the last 5 years. Insurance […]

WASHINGTON — Two more Republican senators declared on Monday night that they would oppose the Senate Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, killing, for now, a seven-year-old promise to overturn President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. The announcement by the senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas, left their leaders […]

On behalf of Gary Nelson at Law Office of Gary C. Nelson The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues rules affecting the workplace to ensure safe working environments. The agency recently issued a new rule that changes certain reporting mandates The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is a federal agency referred to as OSHA within […]

Ron Calderon sat alone in the New Deal-era federal courthouse at Spring and Temple streets in downtown Los Angeles. Moments before, this scion of a California political dynasty had strolled through the room’s big Wizard of Oz double doors, his suit jacket open to expose a generous girth, as though he were casually stepping onto […]

Prince, the music icon who struggled with debilitating hip pain during his career, died from an accidental overdose of self-administered fentanyl, a type of synthetic opiate, officials in Minnesota said Thursday. The news ended weeks of speculation about the sudden death of the musician, who had a reputation for clean living but who appears to […]

Prince appears to have had a problem with pain pills, one that grew so acute that his friends turned to an addiction doctor just before his death. CHANHASSEN, Minn. — Prince Rogers Nelson had an unflinching reputation among those close to him for leading an assiduously clean lifestyle. He ate vegan and preferred to avoid […]

Hummer limos, go-go dancers, a live alligator and glowing aliens in spandex at the national workers’ comp and disability expo. Journey into the little-known workers’ comp industrial complex. by Michael Grabell ProPublica, Dec. 29, 2015, 8 a.m. LAS VEGAS — A scantily clad acrobat dangles from the ceiling, performing flips and splits as machines puff […]

The Florida Supreme Court announced yesterday it has accepted jurisdiction in Stahl vs. Hialeah Hospital/Sedgwick. “The Court accepts jurisdiction of this case as to the basis for jurisdiction under Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution (i.e., expressly declares valid a state statute)” says the Court’s docket. This is big. Florida’s high court will be the […]

By Stephanie Goldberg The New Mexico Court of Appeals has again ruled that medical marijuana should be classified as “reasonable and necessary medical care” for an injured worker. Sandra Lewis injured her lower back on the job in December 1998, court records show. She underwent several surgical procedures and took “numerous” drugs, but continued to […]

Most of us don’t know much about Workers’ Compensation until we need it – and your experience will depend a lot on where you live. Caps on benefits and higher bars to qualify as “injured” are a few of the changes made in most states beginning in the 1990’s to lower the cost of Workers’ […]

by Leigh Ann Pusey Before Social Security or the concept of a “social safety net,” America had workers’ compensation. At the turn of the 20th Century, policymakers struck what they called a grand bargain. Employers would provide medical treatment and income support for lost wages to injured workers – payable regardless of fault – and […]

The ink isn’t yet dry, but a bill introduced into the California legislature would unwind a portion of three year old SB 863 to exempt certain medical treatment requests from utilization review, and thus, independent medical review (IMR). Senate Bill 563, (click to read) authored by Sen. Richard Pan, DSacramento, and sponsored by the California […]

This week marks 104 years since the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, a tragedy that changed our country forever. On that horrible day, dangerous workplace conditions started a fire at a garment factory in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Within 20 minutes, 146 people were dead -almost all of them young immigrant women. America reacted with outrage. The backlash […]