A study of workplace injuries in 27 states, including Missouri and Illinois, shows rural workers injured on the job received prescriptions for opioid pain relievers 68% percent of the time, while their urban counterparts got them 44% of the time. The study was conducted by the Workers Compensation Research Institute, an independent group that does research for insurance companies, employers…
After House and Senate Democrats sent SB 1596 to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce is petitioning the governor to veto the Workers’ Compensation reform bill. The chamber’s recent letter to Pritzker outlines a handful of potential adverse effects on small businesses and invokes Pritzker’s campaign promise to involve employers in any reform process. “We urge you…
Several House Republicans have voiced their opposition to a recently passed bill that amends the state’s Worker’s Compensation Act. Senate Bill 1596 passed the House on March 14 after receiving 70 Yes votes and 40 No votes. The bill had previously passed in the Senate on March 6 with 41 Yes votes and 16 No votes. It was sponsored in…
A circuit court referred a case for consideration to the Illinois Supreme Court to decide if a workers compensation settlement can be exempt in a bankruptcy proceeding. In Re Elena Hernandez, three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago certified the question on Monday of whether the Illinois Workers Compensation Act can exempt the proceeds of…
Mediation programs in two states are bringing together opioid-addicted workers and workers compensation insurers to create plans to get these workers off drugs. In February, the New Hampshire Department of Labor launched the Opioid Pilot Mediation Program, which will provide an opportunity for insurers and opioid-dependent workers whose cases have been settled in the workers comp system to come together…
Illnesses and injuries associated with working in Illinois mines are substantially underreported to the federal agency tasked with tracking these events, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration requires reporting of injuries and illness sustained while working in mines in the U.S. But according…
The Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that will remove any period of repose for the filing of workers compensation claims relating to occupational disease, essentially exposing employers in the state to unlimited liability for these claims. S.B. 1596, which passed 70-40-1 along party lines, amends the state’s Workers Compensation Act and Workers Occupational Diseases Act to provide…
Arlington Heights approved a workers’ compensation settlement for a police officer who is still employed with the police department, marking the second payout to the worker in recent years. Trustees approved at the March 4 meeting paying $45,963 to police Officer Nancy Hundrieser to settle a workers’ compensation claim filed last year for an injury that reportedly happened Dec. 15,…
Six states have sued the Trump administration over the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s plan to roll back its electronic record-keeping rule. Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York challenged the “illegal and unjustified attempt to roll back (the regulation’s) requirements for the public reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses — information that allows states to better…
A woman suing a hospital for negligence after falling on property it owned successfully won over an appellate panel that found the hospital failed to designate sufficient evidence to affirmatively negate her claims. While attempting to catch up with a co-worker in the parking lot of a building they frequently visited for work, Michelle Converse tripped over a landscaping rock…
