Some carriers charging for workers despite exemptions
- Independent contractors have been a challenge for the workers’ compensation industry and these workers are often left without coverage.
- There is concern that few insurance carriers are being too aggressive with anti-fraud precautions too far.
- Some of the carriers are charging premiums for subcontractor company officers, who lawfully can exempt themselves from workers’ compensation coverage.
- The cost for the general contractor can be $2,000 more per year in premium for a craftsman when carriers have an exempt subcontractor officer or owner on the payroll.
Workers post warning about the company’s job hazards
- People have lauded factory workers who posted a question asking wondering whether they should scare off potential employees because the job is dangerous.
- A poster on Reddit said that of the 10 new workers hired in the last three months, only one stayed on the job for more than two weeks.
- Previous employees left because they developed chronic back or arm pain and other health issues.
- Employers are hiring high school students because they’re younger and have a chance to work for longer periods before they are potentially injured.
Worker injured after 100,000-pound machine tips over
- The operator of a 100,000-pound rotary drilling rig was seriously injured after the machine tipped.
- Other workers were pinned inside during the incident.
- “We are investigating the cause,” Tim Johnson, general manager of Skanska, which is the site contractor.
- Fire officials then broke the glass of the cab and extricated the worker, which took 14 minutes, officials said.
Contractors save million by defrauding workers’ comp
- Building contractors have hired numerous illegal aliens, who don’t always know their rights as employees.
- Some of these contractors have failed to pay just under $3 million in payroll taxes to the federal trust funds.
- In addition, these contractors have failed to pay over $3 million in state-mandated workers’ compensation payments.
- Some of these employers have faced jail time and fines.