Court Bars Workers’ Comp Offset for Social Security Cost-of-Living Increases
- A seven-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed a Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Nov. 9 ruling and held that an employer may not increase its Social Security retirement offset when the injured worker’s retirement benefit receives a cost-of-living adjustment.
- Section 204(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act lets employers credit 50% of Social Security retirement benefits against wage-loss benefits. Writing for the majority in McCartney v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer found the provision ambiguous as to cost of living adjustments, noting it is undisputed that COLA increases are not funded by employer or employee contributions.
- The case concerns Cheryl McCartney who was injured on the job in 1997. After she began receiving retirement benefits in March 2017, her employer, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, reduced her workers’ compensation benefit to $247.56 a week and raised its offset with each later COLA. She challenged the increases in 2023.
- A workers’ comp judge ruled the offset “is set at the time the SSR benefit is received and shall not be readjusted based on SSR COLA increases”; the board reversed, and McCartney appealed.
Bill Would Pay Full Wages for Time Missed for Injury Treatment
- Ken Cheveldayoff, the Saskatchewan minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board, introduced legislation Nov. 10 to amend the province’s Workers Compensation Act.
- Key changes include 100% wage reimbursement for time missed to attend injury-related medical treatment, a two-year appeal time limit, clearer eligibility requirements for psychological injury claims and recognition of additional health care professionals as eligible diagnosing providers.
- The bill also clarifies benefits for recurrences of older workplace injuries, modernizes eligibility for the WCB annuity program, aligns surviving dependent spouse benefits with the system’s core purpose and improves employer access to information while maintaining privacy safeguards.
- WCB CEO Phil Germain said the changes were not prompted by concern about fraud or inappropriate payouts, and the board expects no cost increases or savings.
Beshear Reappoints Workers’ Comp Board Chair and Six Administrative Law Judges
- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reappointed Michael Alvey of Owensboro, an attorney, as chair of the Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Board for a term expiring June 1, 2031. The board reviews appeals involving workers’ compensation claims and decisions.
- Beshear also reappointed six administrative law judges in the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims, each for a term expiring June 1, 2031.
- The reappointed judges are John Coleman and Roland Case of Pikeville, Stephanie Kinney of Louisville, Walter Harvey of Bowling Green, James Allen of Allen and Samuel Bach of Henderson.
- Administrative law judges hear and decide disputes over workers’ compensation benefits and claims under Kentucky law.