More protection for workers filing workers’ comp claims

• The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board joined a state effort to protect noncitizen workers from retaliation and deportation during labor disputes, an extension of the protections implemented in 2023 by the Biden administration.
• Through an interagency partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Board will now work with noncitizen workers and their advocates to gain temporary protection from prosecution and potential deportation.
• This partnership will protect noncitizen workers from unscrupulous employers who threaten them with removal or other forms of retaliation for cooperating with a Board investigation or exercising their right to file a workers’ compensation claim for a work-related injury or illness.
• Low-wage and immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace because they are often reluctant to report injuries, speak out on behalf of fellow workers who have been injured at work.
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Final approval for workers’ comp decrease in Florida

• Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky issued a final order granting approval to the National Council on Compensation Insurance for a statewide workers’ compensation insurance rate decrease of 15.1% for new and renewal policies effective in Florida.
• In the construction industry, employers with one or more employees, including the owners of the business who are corporate officers or limited liability company members, must have workers’ compensation coverage.
• In agriculture, employers with six regular employees and/or 12 seasonal workers who work more than 30 days during a season and/or more than a total of 45 days in the same calendar year must have coverage.
• Employers in other businesses with four or more employees, including business owners who are corporate officers or limited liability company members, must have workers’ compensation coverage.
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Workers’ comp outlook

• Workers’ compensation represented over 90% of all industry-favorable development from 2018-2022, averaging 14% of the segment’s calendar year earned premiums for this period, according to Fitch Ratings.
• Workers’ comp loss reserves are likely still significantly redundant, but carriers’ ability to maintain large redundancies in a weakening pricing environment remains uncertain.
• Declining workers’ compensation premium rates point to higher future loss ratios going forward.
• The segment benefits from a long-term trend of declining claims frequency, but a significant rise in medical inflation could lead to a reduction in reserve strength.
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Unresponsive firefighter advisory

• NIOSH released a Safety and Health advisory on the rapid removal of unresponsive firefighters from turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
• The institute cautioned fire departments and fire training facilities to ensure all fire instructors, fire officers, and firefighters.
• The institute released a report in 2022 on a career probationary firefighter’s death during SCBA confidence training at a fire academy.
• The firefighter was maneuvering through a tunnel prop wearing personal protective equipment, which had the SCBA facepiece covered to simulate visual disruption.
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