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Employers are on the front lines of nipping one particular sort of workers compensation fraud in the bud: the incident that never happened or one that is being exaggerated, according to panelists on a session on fraud at the 38th annual International Risk Management Institute Construction Risk Conference. Weighing in on what employers can do to prevent fraud at the onset of a claim, especially on a construction site where the landscape alters daily and the workers — witnesses — on the site can change from day to day, the first step is to gather facts with an effective reporting system and immediate documentation, the presenters said Monday at the conference in Houston. “It’s important when these claims occur to collect information, because it might not be there when you go back to get it,” said Melissa Schultz, co-founder of Chicago-based SitePatterns LLC, which markets incident-reporting software for the commercial construction industry. Click to read more:

A federal inspection of a Panama City Framing work site has resulted in a third citation in three years for not protecting workers on a roof from falling, and failing to do so willingly. Panama City Framing faces a fine of $113,816 for having workers doing residential construction over six feet off the ground without any personal or standing fall protection system such as a guardrail or safety net. In this case, Panama City Framing's workers were on the roof of a one-story home during a June 28 inspection that was part of OSHA's Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction. Click to read more:

Restaurants must pay waiters and bartenders minimum wage when they are engaged in tasks such as cleaning toilets that are unrelated to their main jobs and do not offer tips, a divided U.S. appeals court ruled this week. At issue in the decision by an 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a federal law that allows an employer to pay workers who receive tips as little as $2.13 an hour as long as their tips earn them minimum wage Employers cannot use that tip credit when the workers are engaged in unrelated tasks that don’t pay tips, the panel ruled in a 9-2 decision. Employers also can’t use the tip credit for tasks related to bartending or serving such as preparing coffee if employees spend a substantial part of the work week on them. Click to read more:

The leading type of disabling accidents that occur within the office are the result of falls, strains, overexertion, falling objects, striking against objects, and being caught in or between objects. One would normally expect the office to have the least amount of hazards, but in reality, they are just as common as outside in the workplace. Click here to read more:

Monday morning claims – or claims of worker injuries thought to be unrelated to their jobs and likely happening on the weekend – have not been altered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to new research from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Key findings suggest that the ACA has no real impact on the share of claims by day of the week. Click here to continue:

Florida businesses could see another significant rate decrease in workers’ compensation rates next year if Florida regulators approve the latest filing from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). But the trend of lower rates may not last for long as two-year-old Florida Supreme Court decisions begin to catch up with insurer loss experience. Click to read more:

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has proposed an average 13.4% rate reduction in workers’ compensation insurance in Florida for 2019. The rates await approval by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation; if given the green light, the reduction would follow a 9.5% decrease that took effect this year. “Consistent improvement in loss experience is the primary driver underlying the filing,” the NCCI said. Click to read more:

Standing desks have become trendy in the workplace, but studies have cast doubt on their benefits to employee health and safety. Most employers are not properly incorporating standing desks into the workspace, meaning these newer tools are not as effective in reducing workers comp claims as some may think, according to experts in the field of ergonomics. When asked about standing desks — or the sit-stand workstations that permit a worker to alternate between the two positions — ergonomist Scott Smith tells the story of a towering former college football player-turned-lawyer who was using one in his office, a workplace Mr. Smith had been called to inspect in his work as director of ergonomics with Aon Risk Consulting. Click to read more:

A Hernando County man is suing a Clearwater business, alleging violation of the Workers' Compensation Retaliation Statute. Adam Justine Hyde filed a complaint June 4 in Pinellas County Circuit Court against Lightning Master Corporation, alleging wrongful termination. According to the complaint, between Sept. 11-Oct. 16, 2015, Hyde was injured on the job while being employed by Lightning Master. The suit says Hyde thereafter sought workers' compensation benefits. However, Hyde said, he was terminated from his employment, shortly after his valid claim or attempt to to claim workers' compensation benefits. As a result, Hyde says, he has suffered damages, lost wages, emotional and mental anguish, inconvenience and humiliation. Click to read more:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Desouza Framing Inc. for exposing employees to dangerous falls at two northwest Florida worksites. The Jacksonville-based residential framing contractor faces proposed penalties of $199,178. OSHA inspected a worksite in Jacksonville in October 2017 after observing the company’s employees performing roofing activities at heights up to 11 feet without fall protection. The Agency conducted a second inspection two months later at a jobsite in St. Johns where inspectors saw employees working at heights of up to 22 feet without fall protection. OSHA cited the employer for two willful citations for failing to ensure the use of fall protection. The inspections were part of the Agency’s Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction. Click here to read more:

The average cost of workers’ compensation claims in Florida grew between 2011 and 2016, according to a new study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). All of the key components of total costs per claim experienced moderate increases during the five-year period, a WCRI news release said. “Medical payments per claim, indemnity benefits per claim, and benefit delivery expenses per claim in Florida all grew moderately at 3 to 5 percent per year during this period,” Ramona Tanabe, WCRI’s executive vice president and counsel, said in a statement. Click to read more:

Provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have resulted in proposals and approvals for midyear workers compensation rate reductions in five states, according to details behind several recent filings by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Rate reductions will go into effect June 1 for Idaho and Florida, per recent regulatory approval. Reductions have not been announced in other states. Yet insurance market analysts say the reductions — between 1.8% and 4.7%, as filed by Boca Raton, Florida-based NCCI — can also be attributed to the competitive marketplace for comp coverage. Click to read more: