Workers' compensation is regulated at the state level. Except for federal employees and certain maritime and railroad workers, there is no national system for compensating people injured on the job. State laws define the types of injuries that are compensable, set the levels of cash benefits, establish waiting periods before benefits begin, and detail procedures for filing, contesting, and settling claims. While there are many common elements in terms of coverage, benefits, and administration, each state has its own system of insurance to cover employee claims arising from occupational injury and illness.
How to Spot Fraudulent Workers' Comp Claims
As a human resources professional, you play an important role in detecting potential fraudulent workers' compensation claims. By simply being on the lookout for specific red flags indicating possible fraudulent claims, you can save your company thousands of dollars.
Nuts and Bolts of Workers' Compensation
Workers' compensation administration is one of the daily challenges crossing the HR desk, so an understanding of its highly complex, sometimes-esoteric workings is an essential part of the HR toolkit. In a recent webinar, Dr. Richard Victor, executive director of the Workers' Compensation Research Institute explained how workers' compensation works--and highlighted some telling differences among states in terms of comp related costs and state system successes.
Court Denies Comp to Worker Who Fell Asleep Driving Home
An employee on Boston's Big Dig project who was injured in a collision that occurred when he fell asleep while driving home was denied workers' compensation benefits by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The employee had argued that he should be considered an exception to the "going and coming rule."
