CO Employees Going Remote

• More than half of the Rocky Mountain State’s workers are working from home, according to Pinnacol Insurance, the state’s largest workers’ comp carrier.
• The uptick shows up in the company’s latest data, and it also shows that Colorado employers are also allowing employees to work outside Colorado.
• The number of remote workers ticked up post pandemic.
• According to the numbers,  employees performing hazardous work are staying put, but it’s other employees in those companies that are leaving the state to work remotely.
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Sheriff Misuses Funds

• A Minneapolis sheriff used his workers’ comp settlement to cover his mistakes.
• Former Sheriff Dave Hutchinson was awarded a $240,000 workers’ comp settlement after injuries he sustained in an accident.
• Records show the over $40,000 was deducted from the settlement to pay for a guardrail and car he damaged, after slamming into the guardrail in excess of 120 miles per hour.
• He was drunk at the time. He chose not to run for re-election.
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Court: Migrants Evicted

• The Connecticut Supreme Court rules a landlord can evict two migrants.
• Both migrant workers happened to have workers’ compensation cases pending against their boss landlord.
• The migrants say the eviction was retaliation against them for filing the claims, after suffering incapacitating injuries. An Occupational Safety and Health Administration case remains open.
• The judge ruled that the landlord could evict under the so-called “right or privilege terminated,” opining that there is no agreement between the tenants and the landlord that requires the landlord to let them stay.
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Businesses Going After Biden Rule

• Business groups are asking a Texas Court to block a rule that makes it harder for employers to designate workers as independent contractors.
• They’re saying that the Biden Administration’s new rule does not make the case that a Trump rule does not sufficiently draw the line between independent contractors and workers.
• In failing to make an adequate case, Biden is violating the federal Administrative Procedure Act, the business groups say.
• By designating some workers as independent contractors, employers are not obligated to include them in workers’ comp coverage, thus keeping premiums lower.
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Insurance Industry Doing Swell

• The Zachs Accident and Health Insurance industry is expecting to do well after an increase in underwriting exposure.
• The Accident and Health Insurance industry is comprised of insurance companies writing workers’ comp insurance for companies, mainly in hazardous industries.
• Claims Frequency is supposed to increase, mostly because of the increase in benefits to employees.
• Technology is also playing a factor as well, including the application of AI.
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