Walmart Cuts Health Care Benefits to Part-Time Employees, But Move Could Increase Workers Comp Claims Retail giant Walmart recently announced that the company planned to raise health care costs for 1.3 million of its full-time staff, and health care benefits would be cut completely for the 30,000 part-time workers who work at Walmart stores less than 30 hours per week. However, studies in worker health care benefits suggest that Walmart could have increased its overall costs, because employees without health insurance often seek financial … [Read more...]
Independent Contractors File Labor Violations Lawsuit Against Handy
May 11, 2020 by
Handy App Faces Labor Violations Lawsuit from Two Former Independent Contractors Self-employment through mobile apps and websites is booming – businesses like Uber and Lyft hire drivers under 1099 tax forms so the employees use their own vehicles; AirBNB allows individuals to rent out rooms in their homes for various amounts of time so travelers have a nice place to stay; and apps like TaskRabbit and Handy allow people with extra time to run errands and perform cleaning services at various rates for individuals who hire them. However, all of … [Read more...]
Sharing Economy Is Not Caring – No Workers Comp Benefits
May 9, 2020 by
Independent Contractors Have No Workers Comp Benefits in the Sharing Economy In recent months, numerous independent contractors working for all kinds of businesses – from Google coders to exotic dancers to sharing economy employees – have filed lawsuits claiming that their employers are in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Many companies have been accused of violating fair wage laws by hiring employees as independent contractors so that the companies pay less for employment taxes and health benefits. But independent contractors also … [Read more...]
Telecommuters and Workers Comp
May 2, 2020 by
How Should Employers Treat Workers Comp Claims from Telecommuters? With the rise of the internet, more and more people work from home, “telecommuting” into the office through email, Skype, chats, and shared storage like DropBox and Google Docs. Workers at a home office can still injure themselves while working for their employer, but because of the nebulous line between home and telecommuters, working in telecommuting jobs, workers comp claims become more complicated. A recent survey from WorldatWork showed that 88% of companies offer … [Read more...]
Workers Comp Death Benefits Upheld for Man Who Died on Treadmill
April 30, 2020 by
Workers Comp Death Benefits Still Go To Widow Because Man Was Using Home Office Treadmill The highest workers compensation court in Maine upheld a ruling on Thursday, January 22nd, that the widow of a man who died from a heart attack while using a treadmill in his home office is still entitled to workers comp death benefits. The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously rejected the appeal from the Salvation Army, which claimed that Gregory Sullwold’s widow was not entitled to workers comp death benefits, because her husband died at home and not … [Read more...]
Ohio Workers Comp Settlement for $420 Million
April 29, 2020 by
Workers Comp Bureau of Ohio Class Action Workers Comp Settlement for $420 Million A judge in Ohio has okayed a workers comp settlement in a class action lawsuit against the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, to the tune of $420 million. The class action lawsuit, approved on Thursday, July 24th, settles a 7-year-long case against the workers comp bureau that alleges state employers were overcharges for their workers comp premiums. The $420 million will go to a fund to around 200,000 small businesses to repay the workers comp money they … [Read more...]
SC Workers Comp Rates Set to Decrease
April 21, 2020 by
South Carolina Workers Comp Premiums Will Go Down in 2nd Half of 2014 SC workers comp premiums are set to decrease by 7.4% in the second half of 2014, after two years of moderate increases. Director of Insurance Ray Farmer agreed to the new SC workers compensation rates, which he says will take effect on September 1st this year. “We’ve had a good sign when it comes to frequency and severity and this is another positive for businesses in South Carolina,” said Farmer. The National Council of Compensation Insurance (NCCI) filed for the … [Read more...]
Third-Party Liability in Workers Comp Claims
April 17, 2020 by
Workplace Accidents, Workers Compensation, and Third-Party Liability for Injuries on the Job When a worker is injured on the job, the obvious course of action is to file for workers compensation. Employers in every state in the US are required to pay for workers comp insurance to protect their workers. However, workers comp claims pay out medical care specifically related to the workplace injury and for lost wages. If egregious safety violations from the employer are the cause of the workplace injury or accident, then there are few safety … [Read more...]
No Workers Comp Benefits for Paralyzed Car Crash Victim
April 12, 2020 by
Paralyzed Victim Not On Employer’s Time, Workers Comp Benefits Denied A state appeals court ruled that a North Carolina man cannot receive workers comp benefits for a car crash that occurred after he attended a lunch organized by his employer. In 2010, John Graven Jr. worked for the North Carolina Highway Patrol as a technical support analyst. He and co-worker Kathryn Wall attended a lunch that the Highway Patrol organized “to celebrate the department’s hard work.” However, the lunch gathering was not required by the department, and less … [Read more...]
California Chiropractor Charged with Workers Comp and Insurance Fraud
April 10, 2020 by
Chiropractor Nicknamed “The Godfather” Arraigned on Workers Comp and Insurance Fraud Charges On Friday, September 5th, a Riverside, California-based chiropractor who has nicknames like “The Godfather” and “Number One” has been arraigned on charges of workers comp and insurance fraud. Peyman Heidary, 44, has not only been charged with workers comp fraud, but also with heading a criminal organization, which established medical clinics in Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles Counties in California, and also establishing a law firm that sent … [Read more...]
