What do Gold Fields have to do with Workers Compensation

The Value of Information
Saving Costs with Timely Reporting

Ninety percent of the useful information shaping the course of a compensation claim is reported on the employer’s report of injury (C-2 in New York) and the employee’s written claim (C-3 in New York). Yet both forms are frequently neglected, not just with delayed filings, but with incomplete information and the worst of all answers, “unknown.”

How Valuable is Prompt Accurate Information?

Looking at the California Gold Rush of 1849

The gold fields were of paramount interest to investors in New York. Getting information a day, or an hour, sooner than others could mean profits of millions of dollars. But mail sent by ship took months going around South America. Therefore, in 1850, stage coaches from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco were created to lower delivery time of mail, (not passengers), to 50 days or less.

What did it cost to send or receive a two ounce letter? At least $60.00, frequently more. But a passenger with 40 lbs of luggage would be charged $200, meals included. If the passenger were charged, by the pound, as much as the letter the cost would have been at least $96,000 in 1850 dollars, more than $4,000,000 in today’s dollars. Yet no one complained about the price of a letter.

Why? Because the information in a two-page letter could be worth thousands of time the cost of the letter. And mail had priority – no passenger would ever be carried if it meant one less mail bag.

So it is with a workers’ compensation claim. Delay of information costs more than money – it can cost lives. Delay of information and delay of benefits literally does jeopardize lives through stress. Alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce and depression are all too real side effects of poorly documented claims. The far higher costs of such claims will, inevitably, be passed on to the employer, although the disastrous consequences will be borne by the worker’s family. (workersxzcompxzkit)

Therefore, the time limits for filings, etc. in the WCL are not suggestions – they serve vital purposes for both employer and employee. There is no change in practice or behavior having a MORE positive result than:

COMPLETE, DOCUMENT AND FILE ALL REPORTS OR CLAIMS AS
QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE WITH COPIES TO ALL PARTIES.

Author: Attorney Theodore Ronca is a practicing lawyer from Aquebogue, NY. He is a frequent writer and speaker, and has represented employers in the areas of workers’ compensation, Social Security disability, employee disability plans and subrogation for over 30 years. Attorney Ronca can be reached at 631-722-2100.

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