Rates to fall in Missouri

• The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance said employers should see a reduction in workers’ compensation rates for the third year in a row, according to figures collected from the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
• The NCCI recently proposed an overall decrease of 7.5 percent for 2024 workers’ compensation loss costs.
• The 7.5 percent decrease in loss costs between Jan. 1, 2023, and Jan. 1, 2024, is driven by data collected on an annual basis showing a decline in average indemnity and medical costs per lost-time claim.
• State law mandated Workers’ compensation in Missouri in 1925 and is a “no-fault” insurance system that pays workers injured on the job to cover medical care, part of lost wages, and permanent disability.
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Michigan company cited for infractions

• A federal investigation recovered $98,316 in back wages and liquidated damages for 32 security guards whom the Michogan-based Muskegon Heights Housing Commission failed to pay overtime because it misclassified them as independent contractors.
• The infraction exposed workers to larger tax withholdings and denied workers’ comp needed after work-related injuries.
• The division also learned the commission failed to maintain complete records of hours worked, as required. Its failures violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• In addition to recovering wages and damages, the federal officials assessed the employer $9,310 in civil money penalties for willful violations of overtime provisions.
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New workers’ comp policy in Texas

• City Council members in Frisco, Texas, unanimously approved a new public safety workers’ compensation policy.
• The ordinance split the city’s existing comp policy for city employees into two — one for public safety workers and one for other city employees.
• The new rule offers one year of paid leave to recover from an illness or injury related to the person’s line of duty
• It also allows one year of light duty while recovering from a temporary disability.
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Explosion injures employee at Arkansas plant

• One person was severely burned and two people were injured after an explosion at Hoffinger Industries in West Helena, Arkansas.
• The explosion started at the manufacturer of Doughboy above-ground swimming pools when an employee was filling up a propane tank.
• The employee was then airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.
• Firefighters quickly contained the propane fire and paramedics treated the victims while the investigation began into what caused the explosion, which closed the I-40 bridge into Memphis.
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