Calif. workers can get workers comp for out-of-state injuries
Employees that regularly work in California are entitled to workers’ compensation even if they are injured while working out of state.
Section 3600.5(a) of the California Labor Code allows employees to file for funds while injured.
This issue came to the forefront when an employee for a Calfornia cranes and rigging firm was injured in Jamaica.
A judge determined that the employee regularly worked in California, and that he was thus entitled to claim state workers’ compensation benefits.
Virginia fire department investigated for possible safety violations
- The Petersburg, Va., Fire Department is being accused of serious safety violations at all four of its fire stations.
- The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry received a report about issues with the exhaust ventilation systems.
- The exhaust system is supposed to pump the exhaust from the diesel engines of these fire trucks using a series of hoses and piping and expel it to the highest point outside of the station so that dangerous fumes can’t build up in the building.
- Those systems have been down for some time, potentially exposing firefighters and their gear to dangerous fumes.
Workers comp premiums to rise
- Workers compensation premiums are forecast to increase in 2022, according to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California.
- With declining premium rates, increasing claim frequency and an influx of COVID-19 claims, the 112% projected combined ratio for accident year 2021 is the highest in a decade.
- Premium levels dropped in 2020 due to continued insurer rate decreases and the pandemic-related economic slowdown, while the premium level was relatively flat.
- The frequency of non-COVID-19 indemnity claims rose sharply in 2021 and the share of indemnity claims involving cumulative trauma is also rising.
Los Angeles strippers want to unionize
- Dancers at a Los Angeles strip club have filed to unionize with the Actors’ Equity Association.
- If approved, it would make them the first group of strippers to join the national union that represents theater actors.
- Performers at Star Garden in North Hollywood submitted a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a union election.
- The initiative comes after months of staging protests outside the venue raising concerns about workplace safety and labor rights.