Workers Compensation
| Employee's Failure to Obey Safety Rules as Statutory Defense |
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| When an employee claims workers' compensation benefits are due to him based on an injury that occurred on the job, many states allow an employer to defend itself by presenting evidence that the employee wilfully disobeyed the employer's prescribed safety rules or purposefully neglected to use a safety device. Although in rare cases the defense represents a complete bar to the employee's recovery of benefits, usually the employee's recovery is just subject to a reduction. More... |
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| Meaning of "Miner" for Purposes of Black Lung Benefits Act |
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| The Black Lung Benefits Act provides for total disability claims for United States miners suffering from pneumoconiosis (aka black lung disease), which was contracted due to their employment. Originally, a "miner" was considered to be a person who was employed in an underground coal mine. However, subsequent amendments to the Act deleted the "underground" requirement so that miners working in above-ground environments would also be covered. More... |
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| "Residual Functional Capacity" in Social Security Disability Evaluation |
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| As a correlative step in its disability evaluation, the Social Security Administration examines an individual's residual functional capacity (RFC). The nature of the individual's impairment(s) will determine to what degree his ability to work is impacted. The bedrock of the RFC assessment is what is the most that an individual can do; not the least. An individual's RFC is that remaining functionality that the individual has despite the limitations caused by his impairment. An RFC assessment is made based on all the evidence, which may include the individual's own account of his limitations, observations by physicians, psychologists, friends, neighbors, and the like, work attempt records, and the individual's medical records. More... |
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| Arbitration and Mediation |
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| Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has come to play an increasing role in the resolution of workers' compensation disputes. Almost half the states now offer arbitration and/or mediation as viable ADR methods. More... |
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| Statutory Defense of Wilful Misconduct |
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| Approximately one-third of the states include the defense of "wilful misconduct" in their respective workers' compensation statutes. Under this defense, employers' will claim that the employee is ineligible to receive, or is only entitled to a reduced amount of, workers' compensation benefits because his deliberate action in, for example, violating a safety rule or committing an aggravated assault, is what caused his injury. More... |
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