Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

You’re at work. It’s like any other workday on the jobsite, when suddenly, the unthinkable happens. You’re rushed to the emergency room with serious injuries-possibly a broken back and a head injury.

“How am I going to afford this medical treatment? What if I can’t go back to work? What about my family?” A dozen questions flood your head immediately. But there’s no need to panic, we’re here to help you.

Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 152, Section 25A, employers are responsible for providing workers’ compensation insurance coverage to all of their employees. That means that workers, in any line of work, are supposed to be guaranteed benefits should they become ill or injured while on the job-even if they are the ones who caused the accident and subsequently, their own injury. The benefits may include compensation for lost wages after the first five calendar days of full or partial disability, medical treatment related to the employee’s illness or injury, and job retraining for qualifying employees.

How do you know if you qualify?

Employees can begin qualifying for benefits temporary total incapacitation benefits if their injury or illness has prevented them from returning to work for 5 or more full or partial workdays, which do not have to be consecutive. Employees who require medical attention for their injury or illness are entitled compensation for their care including reimbursement for travel and prescriptions.

By law, your employer must file the Employer’s Report of Injury or Fatality with seven business days from his/her employee’s fifth day of lost time. If an employer does not file this form, an employee may submit an injury report in writing directly to the insurance company. Your employer is required to have a poster displayed in the workplace with the name and address of its workers’ compensation insurer and policy information.
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Six months after the death of a worker in a New Bedford processing plant, his employer has been ordered to pay a hefty fine. Sea Watch International Ltd. was cited for seven serious safety violations following the deadly Massachusetts work accident. The company must now pay a more than $35,000 fine.

The worker, Victor Gerena, was cleaning a shellfish-shucking machine when he got “entangled” in a rotary turbine engine at around 1:30am on the night shift in January. The fire department spent close to an hour freeing him.

Gerena was pronounced dead at the accident scene. He worked with Sea Watch for almost two decades. Following his death, the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health called on all industries using big machines to make sure that they have the proper protections in place to protect workers from injuries and deaths on the job. Brenda Gordon of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that if the company had executed necessary safety practices, Gerena’s death could have been prevented.

The Massachusetts House has just approved legislation that establishes a “bill of rights” for domestic workers. Under the bill, domestic workers are defined as individuals who provide services in the home, such as laundering, housekeeping, caregiving, home companion services, cooking, and childcare. (Babysitting is not included). The bill was approved by the state’s senate last month. Now, Governor Deval Patrick must sign the bill into law.

There are about 67,000 domestic workers in Massachusetts. Many of them are women, which can make them easy targets of sexual harassment and other abuses. Many domestic employees have complained that they lack the legal protections provided to other workers in the state.

Under the new legislation, domestic workers employed in a household for over 16 hours a week would have to receive written contracts. They would be entitled to a description of their duties, their pay rate (including overtime and compensation for specialized skills and other responsibilities), information about yearly raises, health insurance, and reimbursement for additional expenses.

The Department of Labor has is in the midst of a legal battle with Donald Pottern, of the company Crown Furniture of West Springfield, for firing a worker who filed a safety complaint with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

In a statement made by OSHA official Robert Hooper, Hooper said “Employees have a right to file a complaint with OSHA without fear of discharge or other forms of retaliation from their employer. Such retaliation can coerce workers into silence, preventing them from reporting or raising concerns about conditions that could injure, sicken or kill them.”

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, such employer retaliation warrants authority to the organization to file suit against employers that take action against employees.

According to OSHA documents and a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Springfield, the employee had contacted OSHA on May 9, 2011, alleging safety and health hazards in the basement of Crown Furniture, including the presence of asbestos, mold and rodents. On May 11, Pottern apparently fired the employee after he questioned him as to why he filed the complaint. The now former employee filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found legitimate merit to the complaint.

According to OSHA, the lawsuit seeks a judgment affirming that Pottern discharged the employee in retaliation for filing an OSHA complaint and permanently prohibits him from illegally retaliating against employees in the future. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks payment of more than $20,000 in lost wages (plus interest), as well as payment of compensatory and/or punitive damages and posting of a nondiscrimination notice at the workplace.
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According to a study by the National Employment Law project, the number of workers that fall under the “temp” category in the U.S. rose 41% between 2008 and 2012. It appears that temporary staffing agencies are not just providing temporary office clerks and secretaries to employers, but they also they are helping to staff other types of jobs in other industries, such as janitorial services and fast food.

Temp workers are convenient for large companies. Employers can employ temps quickly, and benefits and unemployment insurance don’t have to be provided. However, some critics believe temp workers are at a disadvantage in that they are “disposable,” which leaves them with little recourse should an employer mistreat them or violate the law. Temp workers may not even know that they have rights.

Last year, The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health advocated or the passing of the Temporary Workers Right to Know Law. The law deals with serious labor abuses, including the failure to pay temp workers.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 3 million non-fatal workplace injuries were reported in 2012, the most recent year in which data is available. That means nearly 3 million injured workers could have been in need of worker’s compensation. An injury sustained on the job can easily cause more than physical pain. If the injury is serious enough, the victim may need to miss work, or leave the job altogether. If you were hurt on the job, it is advised that you speak with a Boston Worker’s Compensation Attorney.

Worker’s compensation was established to guarantee certain benefits to those who are hurt on the job, depending on the severity of the injury and how it affects the everyday life of the victim. According to Massachusetts law, workers’ compensation benefits generally include coverage of medical bills, disability payments, 60% of your average income (more if the victim is disabled as a result of the injury), and other forms of compensation specific to the type and scope of the injury suffered. The system is supposed to allow employees to heal while still supporting their families, but sometimes the system does not follow through.
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According to “Dying for Work,” a report prepared by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, 48 workers in this state were killed on the job in 2013. The report was released yesterday right before Workers Memorial Day today. The day is designated for remembering workers that were injured, disabled, or killed in a work accident.

The report names fall accidents as one of the most common causes of Massachusetts worker accident deaths-9 workers died in work falls last year. Another nine worker also died in accidents involving equipment and machinery. Five workers were killed in motor vehicle/truck crash.

The report notes that construction, firefighting, and commercial fishing are industries with the most dangerous jobs. Also, occupation-related illnesses cause d480 worker fatalities in Massachusetts last year alone. Workplace violence was the case of five worker fatalities, including the death a teacher.