Working from home impacts workers’ comp
- Almost 10% of U.S. employees continued to work from home as of April 2022 and analysts predict the rate of telework will remain high.
- This trend has raised questions about injuries and whether employees qualify for workers’ compensation.
- There have been several court cases that have helped better define injuries in home offices.
- New state legislation in some states defines injuries for workers’ compensation in remote work.
Contractor must pay back funds
- A Washington contractor who claimed he was too injured to work, but was actually running his own construction firm, must pay back the state more than $127,000.
- Daniel Joseph Lesieur, of Washougal, has pleaded guilty to felony second-degree theft for stealing workers’ compensation benefits.
- Besides ordering restitution, Clark County Superior Court Judge Suzan Clark sentenced the 54-year-old to 30 days of electronic home monitoring.
- Lesieur lied on official forms to take nearly $121,000 in wage replacement payments and more than $6,200 in vocational training services.
Temporary total disability on the rise
- The temporary total disability rate in Illinois will rise as of July 15, 2023, from $1,344.55 to $1386.15.
- The current state average weekly wage is $1,386.15 as of January 2023.
- That means that the TTD maximum rate for accidents on or after that date will be $1848.20.
- By comparison, that’s approximately $350 higher than the maximum from 2019.
New Jersey Supreme Court orders retrial for comp case
- A New Jersey workers’ compensation premium fraud case won by Liberty Insurance Corp. against a construction firm will be retried by a jury.
- The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a trial court erred in not instructing its jury to allocate fault among the defendants.
- This ruling was in accordance with the state’s comparative negligence law and remanded the case for a retrial for the purpose of allocating liability only.
- The remand does not change the overall findings of guilt or liability, or the overall compensation awarded.