Vol. 6, Issue 36

Find Solutions & Strategies                September 8, 2015

Psychiatric Injuries Post-SB 863

WCAB panel indicates PQME process lives on    
In This Issue
A Note From the Editor
psychiatric injuries post-sb 863
Case of first impression indicates PQME process lives on 
 
In Hernandez v. Fremont Bank, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, the WCAB affirmed the WCJ's finding that the applicant bank teller, who alleged that she suffered psychiatric injury as a compensable consequence of an orthopedic injury, was entitled to a panel qualified medical evaluator (PQME) in the specialty of psychiatry. The WCAB rejected the defendant's assertion that a psychiatric medical-legal evaluation was inappropriate under the circumstances based on the provision in Labor Code § 4660.1(c)(1) that precludes compensation for a permanent psychiatric impairment that results as a consequence of a physical injury....read more.
john burton releases latest research report
Issue 10 of the Workers' Compensation Resources Research Report examines the employers' costs of workers' compensation. Part I relies on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to examine national trends from 1986 to 2014. For private-sector employers, costs dropped ...read more. 
california compensation cases 
Cal Comp CasesIMR Determination Valid Even If Not Issued Within Statutory Timeframes: Cal. Comp. Cases Advanced Postings (9/10/2015). Lexis.com and Lexis Advance online subscribers can read it.
california news headlines
burton's workers' compensation resources research report, CONT. 
Burton... for the ninth consecutive year and represented 1.77 percent of payroll in 2014, the lowest figure since 1986. For all non-federal employers, which includes state and local government employers in addition to private sector employers, employers' costs of workers' compensation were 1.76 percent of payroll in 2014, which was the ninth consecutive year of declining costs and the lowest figure since the data series began in 1991.

The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) also publishes estimates of the employers' costs of workers' compensation for all non-federal employers. The results of the two estimates diverge after 2010, with the NASI data showing three years of increases in employers' costs from 2011 to 2013 (the latest year with NASI data) while the BLS data show nine years of declines through 2014.

Part II provides information based on the BLS data on the variations among employers' costs of workers' compensation in 2014 depending on the employers' region, industry, the occupations of the firms' employees, firm size, and union status. The variations among industries were significant, ranging from 4.71 percent of payroll in construction to 0.57 percent of payroll in the financial industry.

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eNewsletter archives

Take a deep dive into our past eNewsletters for 2015 and prior...warning - some links to articles may not work...report any linking problems to Robin.E.Kobayashi@lexisnexis.com.