Unions from around the world, including the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) affiliates, recently participated in the ILO Workers Symposium on Policies and Regulations to Combat Precarious Employment. The Symposium produced a set of recommendations on measures that the ILO should take to reduce precarious work and improve conditions for precarious workers.
According to information from the IMF, while trade unions have recognized for a long time the threat that the rapid expansion of precarious work throughout the world poses to workers rights, concerns have been raised that the ILO is not doing enough to protect the rights of precarious workers to join a union and participate in meaningful collective bargaining. In order to put the issue firmly at the center of the ILO's standard setting and enforcement agenda, ACTRAV, the Workers Bureau of the ILO, organized a Worker's Symposium which brought together union representatives from both developing and industrialized countries, the public and the private sector. (WCxKit)
During three days, unions shared information on how worldwide, unimaginable numbers of workers are suffering from precarious, insecure, uncertain and unpredictable working conditions. They discussed how global forces are driving the rapid expansion of precarious work in all countries and in all sectors of the economy and the urgent need for regulatory and policy responses to prevent this.
The aims of the Symposium included determining how existing standards can be better promoted in order to protect the rights of precarious workers as well as identifying gaps in existing international labor protections that could be filled by the development of new standards.
At the conclusion of the Symposium, union representatives called on the ILO to conduct a comprehensive report on the obstacles that prevent precarious workers from being able to bargain collectively with their employer, with a particular focus on the barriers to workers in triangular relationships bargaining with the employer controlling their conditions of work. (WCxKit)
Lastly, they called for ILO action to promote key conventions and recommendations that can improve conditions for precarious workers and pointed to the need for further regulation, particularly to limit temporary employment other than in cases of legitimate need.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He is a contributor to the #1 selling book on cost containment, Manage Your Workers Compensation: Reduce Costs 20-50% www.WCManual.com. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Public transit workers in Toronto will in the near future be subject to random drug and alcohol testing as the city's transit service was given permission to start testing employees in safety-sensitive positions, according to a report from the Canadian OH&S News.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was pushing for random testing to be added to the Fitness for Duty policy because the current policy, which came into effect in 2010, has been ineffective at deterring workplace intoxication, says Brad Ross, director of public communications for the TTC. (WCxKit)
The current policy allows for workers in safety-sensitive positions – operators, maintenance staff, supervisors and executives – to be tested for alcohol and marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and PCP, using breathalyzers and saliva swabs, when there is a reasonable cause or testing post-incident, post-violation, post-treatment and pre-employment.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents the majority of TTC workers, is already challenging the present policy, and random testing will be added to the grievance, commented Ian Fellows, the union's lawyer in the grievance litigation.
"It's an invasion of our members' privacy. It treats everybody as if they've done something wrong and it requires them to submit to an invasive procedure," says Fellows. "They've got to offer up a sample of their bodily fluid and their DNA. That's contrary to our agreement and we say the [Ontario] Human Rights Code and the Charter of Rights."
While specifics regarding how the program would run have not yet been worked out, Ross notes the TTC would work with a third party to develop a testing protocol and it would be at least a few months before a system would be ready to implement.
"We need to figure out what percentage of employees we'd need to test on an annual basis, but in theory the way it works is you show up for work and the system tells us it's your turn for random testing," he says.
The saliva swabs, as opposed to the traditional urinalysis when testing for drugs, only show whether a person was impaired when the swab was taken based on a pass/fail threshold, not if they had used drugs in the past. The swabs would be tested by an outside lab, Ross says. "We're interested in ensuring that when you report for work, you're fit for duty, not what you did two days ago or two weeks ago, for that matter."
This is not the first time the TTC has tried to introduce random drug and alcohol testing. When it first brought the Fitness for Duty policy to its board of directors in September of 2008, random testing was in the policy, but the board refused to give it the green light. However, the board has changed since the policy was first introduced.
Ross reports that TTC staff felt the random testing policy was needed and would revisit the proposal at a later date. Ross also dismissed a recent incident, where a TTC bus driver was found with marijuana in his possession after a fatal accident, as the reason for trying to reintroduce random testing.
"There have been a number of public incidents over the last couple of years that have been cause for great concern, and there have been incidents within the organization that have not been public but are a concern as well," he says.
The number of incidents involving drugs and alcohol has not decreased since the policy was introduced, Ross added.
Though the TTC has data comparing the number of incidents from 2006 to 2008 and 2008 to present, they are part of the grievance litigation and are not being released to the public. Hearings began in 2011 and are scheduled throughout 2012.
Random testing brings the TTC, with its 1.6-million riders a day, more in line with public transit services in the United States, where random testing of all workers in the transportation sector is the law. "We are the third largest transit agency in North America after New York and Mexico City, and we feel that this element of the policy is necessary," Ross noted. (WCxKit)
Windsor's public transit service is the only one in Canada that has implemented random testing, but only for employees who drive routes that cross into Michigan.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact
A new national survey of 42,000 Australian workers in 2011 found they are under more pressure than ever before, working longer hours than they are paid for, and increasingly having work invade their home life, totally shattering the myth that employees are to blame for the nation’s productivity. According to a report from the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the largest survey of Australian workers found that while the modern workplace is for some less physically demanding than in the past, working hours have increased and new forms of stress have emerged.
ACTU President Ged Kearney noted, "Work is bleeding into the rest of a worker’s life, and we do not have the means of recognizing or dealing with this in a way that suits workers. Instead we have an increase in stress and insecurity for workers. This is particularly the case for people in casual jobs, who fear they will lose shifts if they do not comply. Business is shifting more and more financial risk and responsibility onto the workforce. We have a 'productivity squeeze,' meaning that we are achieving productivity through unpaid work and greater pressure on (our) workers. It is a wake-up call at a time when we are saturated with urging from employer and business groups about the need to effectively take away more rights and reduce pay and conditions to improve productivity and flexibility."(WCxKit)
The Census found:
1. 73 percent are regularly contacted outside of work hours about their job.
2. 61 percent work more hours than they are paid for.
3. 47 percent receive no compensation for their extra hours.
4. 58 percent have paid for work-related expenses and not been compensated.
The Census also found many workers were concerned about job security, with 22.3 percent of respondents saying the issue as among their greatest concern and one in seven (14.3 percent) of employed census respondents were in a form of non-permanent work arrangement. And one in six (16.5 percent) respondents said they were in non-permanent work part time arrangements because they could not find full time work. (WCxKit)
It has confirmed the existence in the modern Australian workplace of three distinct groups: women aged 45-54 who are juggling caring responsibilities for children and parents while continuing to work full-time; men aged 45-64 who cannot find permanent work because they are told they are too old; and workers under 25 years old who are employed and living out of their home, facing labor market and financial stress because of insecure and unstructured work.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Many paramedics in New Brunswick Canada saw their work schedules dramatically altered recently as the province moved away from 24-hour shifts, citing safety reasons.
According to a report from Canadian OH&S News, Ambulance New Brunswick ANB, the company the province has contracted to manage and oversee all emergency medical services operations since 2007, changed over all but three of the province's 70 EMS stations to a 12-hour shift schedule in August. The changeover was first announced in December 2010. (WCxKit)
There were 30 stations operating on the 24-hour schedule, which was introduced to deal with staffing issues and never meant to be permanent, says Alan Stephen, president and CEO of ANB. Getting rid of the long shifts was a safety decision, he says.
"The evidence would show us that long shifts, 24-hour shifts, are not great for the safety of our paramedics, our patients and for public safety, for reasons of fatigue, lack of sufficient rest periods, sleep disturbances, medical errors, vehicular errors," he says, citing studies from other jurisdictions.
Ralph McBride, the Canadian Union of Public Employees CUPE national representative for Local 4848, the New Brunswick paramedics union, disagrees with the claimed safety benefits and says there haven't been any accidents or patient care issues in the province since the 24-hour shifts were introduced. He says the studies the union did with the province showed that a 12-hour shift is no safer than a 24-hour shift because there is enough downtime when workers handle 9-1-1 calls or rest in the station's bedrooms during the latter shift.
"ANB told us that, time on task, some stations were 38 minutes in a 24-hour day, other stations ran up as high as seven-and-a-half hours," McBride says. "What happens to the other hours for time on task? They're always in the station somewhere with the ability to put their feet up and relax," he contends.
"It's not like they're working a 24-hour shift in an urban center, like a city. Our 24-hour stations are more in remote parts, where call volumes are low."
Some members are upset with the decision to move to a 12-hour schedule because it causes hardships to ambulance personnel, McBride argues, citing the difficulty of finding daycare for single parents and the dramatic increase on travel time that workers who live far from their station have to deal with.
"I have members that would work in a 24-hour station because that's the closest they could get to their home area. They were traveling two hours to work and then two hours home, and now they're going to end up traveling four days. It was just a better fit," he says.
Local 4848, which represents approximately 900 EMS workers, is waiting on an adjudication hearing to challenge the decision and is lobbying the government to look at the employer's right to make the changes, McBride remarked. (WCxKit)
The three stations staying on the 24-hour schedule are on the islands in lower New Brunswick, and are staying on the extended schedule because the number of emergency calls on the islands is much lower and paramedics working there don't have to transfer patients to other facilities, Stephen adds.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
The challenge: A grey zone medication is any type of drug for which special attention is required to determine if it is appropriate for the injured worker based on compensability, relation to injury and medical history. Ensuring medications are appropriate has become increasingly complex due to an aging and unhealthy workforce. Workers who have more simultaneous ailments are leading to the use of medications that are unrelated to the actual injury.
The most common grey zone medication categories mirror the prescription trends within workers compensation as a whole; antibiotics, pain medications, hypnotics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, ulcer medications, cardiovascular medications.
The solution: Implementing effective strategies to monitor grey zone medications helps ensure injured worker safety and reduces opportunities for instances of fraud, misuse and abuse.
- Develop customized medication plans
By working with a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), payors can create medication plans that are based on specific criteria to ensure that medications are appropriate for the injured worker. Medication plans should be specific to body part and nature of injury, as well as the acute or chronic nature of the injury. PBMs should also offer electronic notification of approved and misaligned medications. This will reduce administrative burdens on claims professionals, allowing them to focus on jurisdictional issues related to the claim while the PBM can focus on medication concerns.
- Establish comprehensive utilization management programs
Utilization management programs are essential to limit cases of fraud, misuse and abuse and ultimately ensure injured worker safety. A quality program should include working with a clinical staff capable of performing in-depth, injured worker-specific drug utilization reviews. While PBMs offer utilization review programs, payors should also ensure their partner has a process in place that is managed by clinical pharmacists. The clinical utilization review program should use a combination of evidence-based medical guidelines, peer review journals and recommendations provided by government organizations.
· Prospective utilization reviews- A prospective program allows all involved parties to plan for future outcomes with up-front information. Guiding future decisions through historical data and practices allows for the achievement of cost control and utilization control.
· Concurrent utilization reviews- A concurrent program can prevent abuse involving the use of multiple pharmacies and physicians for different medications, or excessive early refill attempts. The PBM can trigger concurrent alerts to inform the dispensing pharmacist about possible reasons a medication should be questioned before filling. This process can ensure that prescriptions are not filled at the point-of-sale unless the medication is allowed or the PBM receives authorization from the payor.
. Retrospective drug utilization reviews and clinical intervention programs- Conducting retrospective drug utilization reviews, physician monitoring and clinical intervention programs should be used to continually evaluate claims for grey zone medications and monitor inappropriate and/or excessive use. Staying on top of potential patterns can cut back on unnecessary spending and ensure injured worker safety.
· Retrospective reviews- After a prescription is filled, the PBM’s clinical pharmacist team should audit the claim for indicators of misuse; multiple physicians, duplication of therapy, excessive duration and use.
. Clinical intervention programs- Seek a PBM that offers a wide range of clinical intervention programs to assist with evaluation needs. The range of programs should consist of registered pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals available for consultation on medication questions and peer reviews. The PBM’s clinical intervention team should provide recommendations for specific claims that require further evaluation.
- Physician monitoring
It is essential to have a process that monitors an injured worker with multiple physicians. A successful program should be based on established best practices and contain multiple components including:
- Monitoring for appropriate medication utilization using evidence-based published therapeutic guidelines
- Overseeing prescribing patterns at the physician level to establish appropriate/inappropriate use of brand name medications when an FDA approved generic equivalent exists
- Participating in mandatory and voluntary state reporting programs that monitor for excessive prescribing patterns
- Pharmacist support
The PBM must have a staff of clinical pharmacists available to provide customized support for medication-related decisions. The exchange of medication education between pharmacists and claims professionals is important for both general and injured worker-specific information.
- Nursing support
A more holistic clinical picture of the claim should be obtained by the claims professional. Nurses on an experienced clinical services team are uniquely positioned to assist in explaining the details on medical service claims. Having access to experts in non-drug therapy can allow the claims professional to make more informed decisions.
- Claims professional education
Effective seminars that train and provide guidance to claims professionals on the payor’s policies for managing grey zone medications should be provided. These sessions should be included within claims professional’s regular education and training,
Summary: Managing medication utilization for injured parties has become increasingly complex for workers compensation payors. As new medications become available, the workforce continues to age and medical histories increase in complexity, navigating the grey zone medication maze will remain a challenge. By putting best practices into place to manage the appropriateness of medications, payors will ultimately ensure injured worker safety while reducing opportunities for fraud, misuse and abuse.
For more detailed information on the definition and classification of grey zone medications and common grey zone drugs please visit Progressive Medical’s
Grey Zone Resource Center.
Author Tron Emptage, who holds a BS in Pharmacy, is Chief Clinical & Compliance Officer with Progressive Medical. Mr. Emptage has overseen Pharmacy Services, Clinical Services, National Account Management served as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Executive Vice President of Business. His 20-year plus experience in pharmaceutical and managed care defines him as a key player in moving the company forward in the arena of national pharmaceutical managed care. Contact him: tron.emptage@progressive-medical.com or 800.777.3574 or visit Progressive Medical.
About Progressive Medical
Progressive Medical offers cost management services and programs to the workers compensation industry. By combining its clinical expertise with access to an expansive network of pharmacies, home health care services and medical equipment and supplies, the company enables its clients to manage costs while providing quality care to injured workers. Learn more at Progressive Medical or call 866.939.5365. http://www.workcomptransformation.com/narcotics-quandary/
Our WORKERS COMPENSATION BOOK
Manage Your Workers Compensation Program: Reduce Your Costs 20-50%
www.WCManual.com
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Firefighters describe Australian State Government’s move to introduce random drug and alcohol testing across the brigade as an unnecessary invasion of personal privacy, according to a report from their union.
Fire Brigade Employees Union State Secretary Jim Casey said the State Government move was unwarranted, given there is no established problem with drug and alcohol abuse among firefighters. (WCxKit)
“There is absolutely no evidence to suggest firefighters have a problem with substance abuse and, on that basis, we see this as a gratuitous invasion of personal privacy. Nobody asks Mike Gallacher, the NSW Cabinet or their staffers to submit to random drug and alcohol testing,” Casey said. “StateGovernment ministers make multiple-billion dollar policy and investment decisions all the time. How do we know their judgment is not impaired by substance abuse?” he added.
Casey went on to say the brigade already has effective drug and alcohol protocols in place that are supported by the union. As he sees it, random drug and alcohol tests represent nothing more than a waste of time and money. (WCxKit)
“Firefighters run into burning buildings every day; they’re highly aware of the need to remain sober while on the job,” Casey added.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Construction workers working on the giant Maracana stadium for the 2014 World Cup finals went on strike after one of their colleagues was badly burnt in an on-site explosion as reported by the workers union to Reuters.
According to the union, the worker's legs were also injured when an oil barrel with chemical residue exploded on Wednesday morning and he was rushed to the city's Souza Aguiar hospital.
Hundreds of workers held a demonstration outside the stadium to draw attention to their demands, which also include higher pay and health care. Up to 1,500 people work on the stadium in rotating shifts.
The contractor reported the workers had "interrupted reforms at the Maracana in the early afternoon."
The famed Maracana will stage Confederation Cup matches in 2013 and is expected to host the World Cup final a year later. The renovations have been estimated to cost one billion reais or $622.6 million US. (WCxKit)
In June, workers renovating the Mineirao stadium that will host World Cup matches in Belo Horizonte, capital of the southern central state of Minas Gerais, went on strike for four days demanding better pay and conditions.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Nearly 3,000 workers at a Turkish UPS subsidiary have won the right to be represented by a Turkish International Transport Worker's Federation (ITF) affiliate following more than a year of bitter struggle.
According to an ITF report, workers at the company are entitled to be represented collectively by Türkiye Motorlu Tasit Isçileri Sendikasi (TÜMTIS) after Turkey’s ministry of labor and social security certified the union as the workers’ representative.
The victory comes 15 months after 163 workers who had registered to join the union or were members of it were dismissed by the company; they subsequently won the right to reinstatement and compensation.
Kenan Öztürk, TÜMTİS’ general president, commented, “This achievement is not only ours. It is the result of the collaboration of many trade unions under the umbrella of the global delivery network of the ITF, and especially the Teamsters union in America, which represents hundreds of thousands of UPS workers in the company’s home country. The European Transport Workers’ Federation and its affiliates also played an integral role in this victory.”
The success follows a concerted campaign by UPS workers and their union to improve job conditions at global delivery companies operating in Turkey.
As Öztürk added, “We will now continue toward negotiating a strong collective agreement for UPS workers and we will continue to apply our organizational efforts at MNG-Fed Ex, DHL, and TNT in Turkey.”(WCxKit)
According to the ITF, TÜMTİS’ victory represents a positive pointer to the future for all global delivery company workers who may be struggling for union recognition and good contracts; the ITF is working to help union
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
More than 550 engineers at Great Britain’s Romec, a facilities and maintenance employer, recently called for strike action, part of an escalating dispute over alleged bullying management.
According to a report from the Communications Workers Union (CWU), the dispute began over management misuse of information from tracking devices in engineers' vans. Cases have allegedly emerged where managers have trawled detailed data to find tiny discrepancies in order to victimize, discipline or sack staff. (WCxKit)
Romec has since allegedly intimidated staff and unilaterally changed their working hours, leading CWU to believe it is acting unlawfully by withholding pay and initiating redundancies without consultation.
Ray Ellis, CWU national official, said, "Romec is acting like Big Brother and has completely lost the trust of its staff. The regime of intimidation and culture of psychologically bullying engineers is making the working atmosphere intolerable for our members.
"We believe Romec is now acting unlawfully by withholding pay from staff after unilaterally changing their hours — for example from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shifts to unsociable 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. shifts. If staff do not, or cannot, work the new hours, their letters offering money if people leave the company is outside of redundancy regulations. All this is putting pressure on staff already being harassed by managers using tracker data. There are legal double standards here — if the union took unlawful action, the company could get a court injunction, but with the company's actions we will have to go through lengthy tribunal proceedings. We urge management to engage in meaningful talks. However our confidence in Romec keeping to agreements is very low," Ellis said.
Dave Ward, CWU deputy general secretary, added, "Romec's aggressive behavior toward experienced engineering staff is shocking. We urge the company to put its energy into resolving this situation instead of further intimidating staff. This will only be resolved through talks and that is where we want to be." (WCxKit)
Romec is owned by Royal Mail Group and Balfour Beatty. A Royal Mail spokesman noted no employees of Royal Mail Group are involved in this action. “We are very confident that the robust contingency plans we have in place will ensure there will be no impact on our customers from the planned industrial action," the spokesperson said.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
When most people think of labor unions and workers compensation, they think of the role of unions in supporting questionable workers compensation claims. When a factory closes and then most of the union work force files belated worker's compensation claims, at the encouragement of the local labor union, the union gets a black eye and a soiled reputation.
It does not have to be this way. Unions can have a positive role. When unions
support safety improvements, they are providing an important benefit to their members and they are assisting the employer in lowering the cost of workers compensation. Union support for OSHA programs can be instrumental in improving the safety within an industry. Unions have also promoted the use of safety gear including hard hats and protective eyewear. (WCxKit)
While unions have often promoted safety in the work place, unfortunately some public sector unions have fought against drug testing of employees, resulting in unnecessary injuries to employees and unnecessary workers compensation expense for the employers. However, some unions in the private sector have worked with employers to develop and implement fair and equitable drug testing policies.
In the states where the employers do not have to hold open a job for an injured employee, unions can make a difference. Often the union will have a labor agreement requiring the employer to hold open the injured employee's job until the employee can return to work. In addition, the union can track workplace accidents and make recommendations on ways to reduce the number of accidents.
The union representative or steward will normally guide the injured employee through the work comp process, starting with arranging immediate medical care for an employee hurt on the job. This is a good thing as the sooner the employee is treated for an on-the-job injury, the higher the probability of a faster recovery. However, the union involvement can quickly go from good to bad when the union encourages an employee to stay off work longer than necessary because the union has some other quarrel with management.
When unions boast that the union members receive more in workers compensation payments than non-union employees do, they may think that sounds like a good thing, but in reality, it is stating they create more waste in the workers compensation system. Every state requires the exact same benefits for
medical, indemnity and vocational rehabilitation for non-union members as they do for union members.
Contrary to what some union leaders tell their members, employers do not have unlimited funds for workers compensation. Unions often err when it comes to workers compensation by putting the “rights” of one injured worker ahead of the best interest of all employees and the employer. When a union files a grievance on behalf of an injured worker who is overstating his/her injury or an injured worker who is trying to commit workers compensation fraud, any benefits paid to the injured worker reduces the amount of money the employer will have to provide benefits to legitimately injured workers. (WCxKit)
The same logic applies when the union representative or union steward automatically requires (“request”) all injured employees to go an attorney chosen by the union to represent the employee in their work comp claims. The additional expense that the attorney creates in the claim comes out of the employer's pocket whether the employer is self-insured, or pays it latter through higher insurance premiums. The additional cost of the represented workers compensation claim reduces the amount of money the employer has for work comp and other employee benefits.
Author Rebecca Shafer, JD, President of Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. is a national expert in the field of workers compensation. She is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. Her expertise is working with employers to reduce workers compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@WorkersCompKit.com.
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