In a new report released by the Labor Department, “working people are at great risk of falling into poverty,” due to changes in state workers’ comp laws. Because of this, the Labor Department is asking for an exploration of federal oversight and federal minimum benefits.
According to NPR, the report states that over the last 10 years, states have implemented new laws and policies that limit benefits, reduce the likelihood of individuals successfully filing a workers’ compensation application, and discourage injured employees from applying for benefits. The report comes after Democratic lawmakers asked that the Labor Department take action in order to adequately protect injured workers in the aftermath of workers’ comp laws in up to 33 states.
This is where federal action comes in. The Labor Department is urging that officials take a closer look into recommended minimum benefits and oversight on the workers’ compensation system as a whole. Labor Department Secretary Thomas Perez said without minimum benefits, the system is “really putting workers who are hurt on the job on the pathway to poverty.”
By implementing fair and just minimum benefits, the workers’ compensation system could work to make sure injured employees across the nation would not be subject to receive lesser benefits simply because they live in a state where officials drastically slashed workers’ comp costs. At the very least, this report opens the door for discussion on the possibility of federal intervention – the report outlines, in detail, the government’s involvement in boosting the standards for national benefits, spanning back from 1939.
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