Workers' Compensation in the United States: The First 100 Years, by Alan Pierce

The year 1911 saw the enactment of this country's first state-based Workers' Compensation laws. The effects of the Industrial Revolution begun some decades earlier made it necessary to change the way the costs associated with workplace injuries and deaths were compensated.

Wisconsin claims credit for the first constitutional statute (earlier attempts failed constitutional muster) with Massachusetts and eight more states not far behind. Thirty-six other states followed by the end of the decade....

On April 7, 2011 Massachusetts will be holding a centennial commemoration that has attracted interest across the country. Before detailing our plans in Massachusetts, it is worthwhile to briefly examine the historical origins of a concept of a no-fault based system of compensating job related injuries and deaths. Who then can lay claim to the first model of a modern Workers' Compensation system?  > Read more 

NCCI Gauges the Economy and Implications for Workers' Compensation. In its latest quarterly newsletter, National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. examines factors in the current economic environment that typically impact workers' compensation insurance.

Some of the key findings were: (1) private sector employment is slowly improving but still weak, and the unemployment rate has remained high, all of which translate to a continuation of "downward pressure" on exposure and claim frequency; (2) wage growth is expected to slowly increase; NCCI projects a conservative 2.6% growth in AWW for 2011; (3) medical care price inflation will continue and will likely outpace the general rate of inflation in the economy in the foreseeable future, creating continued pressure on medical severity (cost per claim) for years to come; (4) interest rates may increase slightly by 2011. > Read more

Larson's Spotlight reports noteworthy workers' comp cases each week. This list was compiled by Thomas A. Robinson, a staff writer for Larson's Workers' Compensation Law, the nation's leading authority on workers' compensation law. 

 

 

 > Read the summaries & court decisions.

 

1. US: Texas Employee May Maintain Mesothelioma Tort Action Against Employer Since All Exposure Occurred Prior to Amendment of Work Comp Act Adding Disease as a Covered Injury

 

2. AL: Retiree Injured While Driving Vehicle to Car Dealership Was Independent Contractor, Not Employee

 

3. LA: Claimant Is Disqualified From Benefits and Ordered To Make Restitution Where He Tried to Get Physician to "Change His Story"

 

4. LA: Pro Football Player's Average Weekly Wage Computed Based on Earnings at Time of Injury, Not Level of Benefits He Later Received Under Collective Bargaining Agreement

 

5. NY: Disabled Son-Cared for By Deceased Worker's Sister and Husband-Does Not Qualify for Death Benefits Where No Actual Showing of Dependency