Sacks & Zolonz Employer Workers' Compensation Defense Attorneys Blog

Recent reports in the area of workers' compensation defense law reveal a good news/bad scenario for California employers. The bad news? The cost of work comp premiums is going to rise in 2012. The good news? The amount of this rate increase is relatively minor.

According to a released statement by the California Department of Insurance, the top 100 workers' compensation insurance carriers, which together comprise 96.7 percent of the state's work comp insurance market, are increasing their pure premium/base rates by 2.8 percent.

What makes this development significant is that in 2012 the Department of Insurance officially launched a new practice whereby the Insurance Commissioner announces an advisory benchmark for annual work comp rates that insurers can either abide by or disregard.

Specifically, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones advised work comp carriers to consider charging a premium rate equivalent to $2.30 per $100 of employer payroll back in November.

Based on the 2.8 percent increase in premium rates, the bulk of work comp carriers chose to follow Jones' recommendation.

Employers here in California, and across the nation know full well the toll that repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) can have on a bottom line. They also know that RSIs not only affect productivity, but can also result in widespread absenteeism and increased workers' compensation defense costs.

Consequently, it's important for employers in any and all industries to take the necessary step to prevent RSIs among their workforce.

Today's post will continue the previous discussion, focusing specifically on some potential warning signs of RSIs in the office setting and some simple solutions offered by health experts.

What can you do for employees who are on the phone for extended periods of time and who frequently hunch their shoulders while talking?

Health experts recommend that employers consider purchasing headsets for these employees or allowing them to use the speakerphone option. Either of these steps can eliminate excess strain on the shoulders and neck.

What can you do for employees whose positions require them to place their palms and/or wrists on a hard surface for extended periods of time?

Health experts recommend that employers consider installing wrist guards or other protective padding that can keep pressure off the wrists.

Employers here in California, and across the nation know full well the toll that repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) can have on a bottom line. They also know that RSIs not only affect productivity, but can also result in widespread absenteeism and increased workers' compensation defense costs.

Consequently, it's important for employers in any and all industries to take the necessary step to prevent RSIs among their workforce.

What is an RSI?

A publication from the United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines an RSI as follows:

"[R]epetitive stress injuries, comprise more than one hundred different types of job-induced injuries and illnesses resulting from wear and tear on the body. RSIs ... can result any time there is a mismatch between the physical requirements of the job and the physical capacity of the human body. Specific risk factors that can cause RSIs include repetitive motion, force, awkward posture, heavy lifting, or a combination of these factors."

There is little dispute that firefighters have one of the most dangerous professions in all of America. From battling towering wildfires and intense house fires to helping rescue people trapped in car accidents along busy expressways, these heroic men and women are susceptible to all kinds of serious and even fatal work injuries.

In fact, the United States Fire Administration (USFA) -- the agency in charge of "foster[ing] a solid foundation for ... fire and emergency services stakeholders in prevention, preparedness, and response -- recently released its annual report on the number of firefighter fatalities in the U.S.

Here, the report shows that 81 firefighters were killed in the line of duty in 2011, a decrease of roughly seven percent from 2010, in which there were 87 fatal work injuries.

"In 2004 at the initial Life Safety Summit, a number of fire service leaders did not believe we would complete a calendar year with less than 100 firefighter on-duty deaths," said U.S. Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell. "We broke through that perceived barrier in 2009, 2010, and now in 2011. We salute and congratulate our fire service family and pledge to continue working closely with the entire fire service community and its partners ..."

It is extremely important for all employers -- regardless of size or sector -- to remain hyper-vigilant when it comes to potentially fraudulent and frivolous work comp claims. In particular, one type of employee fraud that employers should constantly be on the lookout for is misrepresentations by an employee concerning the severity or symptoms of their work injury.

To illustrate, consider a case out of Turlock, California, where a federal employee was arrested last April after a federal grand jury handed down a 32-count indictment alleging 30 counts of mail fraud and two counts of workers' compensation fraud.

According to federal authorities, postal employee Karina B. claimed to suffer a serious work injury and applied for federal work comp benefits. As a result of her alleged injury, certain physical restrictions that prevented her from performing her normal job duties went into effect. Specifically, medical professionals advised her not to reach, push, pull or drive for more than 20 minutes at a time.

Interestingly, a subsequent investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General revealed that from October 2006 to January 2009, Karina B., 44, received work comp benefits to which she was not entitled.

Multiple government agencies in the state of California are officially joining forces to crack down on the so-called "underground economy," meaning both uninsured employers, and those employers who abuse state employment and work comp laws.

According to news reports, the following government agencies/offices are forming the new Labor Enforcement Task Force: the Department of Industrial Relations, the California Attorney General, District Attorneys in several counties, the Department of Insurance, the State Board of Equalization, the Bureau of Automotive Repair, the Employment Development Department, and the Contractors State License Board.

Here, the participating government agencies/offices will focus a significant degree of their efforts on detecting and prosecuting work comp fraud, including instances where employers fail to obtain work comp coverage or purposely underreport payroll/misclassify employees in an attempt to secure a lower work comp coverage rate.

"Legitimate businesses grow California's economy," said Christine Baker, Dept. of Industrial Relations Director. "They are our economic backbone. This effort is using state resources judiciously in a time of limited funding to allow key agencies to collaborate and direct their best efforts to fight the menace of the underground economy."

Serious work injuries can cause significant disruptions for employers, including decreased productivity, increased insurance premiums and steep work comp costs. As such, employers will typically do their best to provide safe workplaces that protect their workers from neck, back, knee and other common work-related injuries. While this is laudable, are employers missing another fairly common but equally devastating injury?

According to medical experts, workers in all fields are susceptible to foot injuries. While this may not seem like a particularly pressing problem, these medical experts point out that an employee experiencing serious foot pain can be understandably distracted, causing their productivity to suffer and their likelihood of being involved in a workplace accident to skyrocket.

Today's post -- the second in an ongoing series -- will briefly explore some solutions to help prevent occurrences of work-related foot injuries/foot pain.

Most stories discussing serious work injuries seem to inevitably involve private sector employers who have failed to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of their employees and who are now facing potential violations from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). However, it's important to remember that private sector employers are not the only ones who may be issued Cal/OSHA violations. Public sector employers may also be cited by the state agency.

To illustrate, consider a recent case out of the Bay Area involving the San Francisco Fire Department and a tragic accident that resulted in the death of two firefighters.

Back on the morning of June 2, 2011, firefighters with Engine 26 of the San Francisco Fire Department responded to a call of a house fire in a surrounding neighborhood.

Upon arriving at the scene, two firefighters -- Lt. Vincent P. and Anthony V. -- entered the front door of the burning multi-level home, reporting to fire crew members stationed outside that the fire appeared to be relatively small in size.

However, as the two men went to the lower levels of the home, the fire suddenly grew, leading to their tragic demise.