The WSIA Weekly, 5.27.16
The WSIA Weekly returns from a brief hiatus. Today’s updates are for the last two weeks.
Recruitment
restarts for Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals Chair
Earlier this week, a
position description was released announcing the renewal of recruitment
efforts for the Chair of the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, the
governor-appointed member of the BIIA who is nominated through a mutual
process between worker and employer stakeholders. The Washington State Labor
Council and Association of Washington Business have taken point on the
nominating process. Interested individuals must submit materials to both
organizations by June 10th. Interviews will take place on June 22nd.
More information is available at
this link.
OSHA
expands employer responsibility to provide access to reports
Last Friday, the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) posted a “correction” to
its previously-reported final
rules released on May 12th (effective August 10th)
providing additional detail with respect to employer requirements to provide
access to the OSHA 300 and 301 reports. The rules now establish a regulatory
right to these reports for employees, former employees, and their
representatives and compel employers to provide the information with no cost
in very short time frames. The no-cost immediate access to this information
may result in increased litigation and workers’ compensation claims. See this
link for the updated guidance.
WSIA
Liaison Committee notes up on the website
Members interested in
following the work of the WSIA Liaison Committee, which meets bi-monthly with
Labor & Industries’ Self-Insurance Program leadership to discuss
operational and policy issues, can now access the minutes from our most
recent meeting held earlier this month. Topics included an update on the
development of the new Self-Insurance Risk Analysis System (SIRAS) and
corresponding medical electronic data interchange, as well as a roundtable on
furthering collaboration with L&I’s Office of Medical Director around
evidence-based medicine occupational health best practices. Click
here for the minutes and handouts.
Washington
Supreme Court clarifies workers’ comp coverage for franchisees
Last
Thursday, the Washington Supreme Court released its decision in Department
of Labor & Industries v. Lyons Enterprises, Inc., a case determining
the scope of workers’ compensation coverage for franchisees. At issue was a
commercial janitorial franchisor who resisted the Department’s determination
that certain of its franchisees in Washington were covered employees of the
franchisor, rather than separate businesses. In a decision sure to affect the
broader franchising sector, the Supreme Court held that franchises without
their own employees are covered workers of the franchisor for purposes of
workers’ compensation. A copy of the court’s unanimous opinion is available here.
Court of
Appeals decides 2nd Injury Fund case
Also last
Thursday, Division III of the Washington Court of Appeals, headquartered in
Spokane, issued a ruling in Department of Labor & Industries v. Ortiz,
involving self-insured employer United Frozen Foods. The issue in the case
was whether the Department has a duty to pay a self-insured employer from the
Second Injury Fund for a fairly substantial amount of overpaid time loss
payments arising from a back-dated pension settlement. The Court of Appeals
answered in the affirmative, affirming prior Board of Industrial Insurance
Appeals case law. A copy of the court’s opinion is available here.
Federal
overtime revisions sure to foster workers’ comp wage complexity
On May 18th, the United States Department of
Labor issued a much-anticipated rule revising the standards for overtime
eligibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act, increasing the threshold for
the law’s “white collar” exemptions to $47,476 per year, more than doubling
the prior minimum. With more workers eligible for overtime, calculating time
loss benefits under Washington’s already byzantine wage calculation system
may become that much more difficult for claims handlers. For a reaction to
the rule on workerscompensation.com, check this
link, and for the actual text of the rule itself, click here.
2016
Annual Conference Photos up on Facebook
If you were able to make this year’s Annual Conference or
not, venture
over to our Facebook page to enjoy some of the photos of the learning,
networking, and fun we had earlier this month!
Remembering
Clif Finch, 1946-2016
The Washington Workers’
Compensation public policy community was saddened to learn last week of the
passing of Clif Finch, an Olympia-based lobbyist who contributed to the
development of workers’ compensation policy in Washington for nearly three
decades. Clif was the General Counsel and Government Affairs Director for the
Association of Washington Business from the late 1980s to 2003, a longtime
member of the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Committee, and a staunch ally of
WSIA. Through his later position in the Aequus public affairs firm, he later
did some lobbying and consulting for WSIA as we explored the feasibility of
an alternative surety program in Washington. Clif was a towering figure in
Washington public policy circles and will be missed.