Vol. 7, Issue 23

Find Solutions & Strategies                  June 6, 2016 

Will Increasing Wages Improve Worker Health?

Low wages as an occupational health hazard 
In This Issue
A Note From the Editor
will increasing wages improve worker health?
Researchers Argue for Treating Low Wages as an Occupational Health Hazard

By Roger Rabb, J.D., Special Correspondent for the LexisNexis Workers' Compensation eNewsletter 
 
When thinking of the most common occupational hazards, risks associated with things such as moving machinery, toxic chemicals, and repetitive or strenuous movements generally come to mind. However, there is a growing body of literature examining so-called "psychosocial" hazards, which includes detrimental aspects of work like job insecurity and organizational injustice that generally prey on a worker's mental or social well-being. In "Low Wages as Occupational Health Hazards," published in the May 2016 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, authors J. Paul Leigh, Ph.D., and Roberto De Vogli, Ph.D., discuss the relationship between low wages and poor health, arguing that low wages should also be treated as this type of psychosocial occupational health hazard...read more.
LARSON'S SPOTLIGHT ON RECENT CASES
Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., our Feature National Columnist, is the co-author of Larson's Workers' Compensation Law (LexisNexis). 
  
Florida: "Angry Thoughts" About Co-Worker Do Not Constitute Employee Misconduct. Statements made by a workers' compensation claimant to her attorney that she felt like "punching the lights" out of a co-worker, whom the claimant felt had intentionally caused the claimant injury at work, were not...read more.

Pennsylvania: WCJ's Rejection of Uncontradicted Medical Evidence Offered by IRE Physician Was Appropriate. Emphasizing that with regard to expert medical testimony, one should not conflate the qualifications of the expert with the persuasiveness of the expert's testimony, the Supreme Court...read more.

Idaho: Claimant Fails to Show Accident Was Predominant Cause of Need for Psychological Care. Reiterating the rule that the state's Industrial Commission has broad discretion in weighing medical evidence and determining the credibility of conflicting expert opinions, the Supreme Court...read more.

New York: Defendant in Civil Action Could Not Claim Collateral Estoppel Based on Board's Earlier Decision as to Extent of Plaintiff's Injury. A New York trial court properly denied defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs' personal injury suit on the ground of collateral estoppel, where the issue of whether...read more. 
Work Comp Emerging Issues
national & state news

ENEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

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