From Bob's Cluttered Desk

A court decision in Arizona this week does more than potentially set a new precedent for First Responder benefits in that state; it also forces us to look at the expectations of the job, and what may be considered “normal” within the course and scope of employment. In 2017, a Gila County sheriff’s deputy was conducting a…

Many retailers have strict policies when it comes to physical altercations with suspected shoplifters. These policies do not allow employees to physically restrain or otherwise prevent a suspected shoplifter from fleeing the premises. While this can be frustrating to people who would prefer to stop a theft in the process, these policies potentially prevent needless…

NCCI recently reported that they are monitoring more than 500 workers’ compensation bills being considered in state legislative bodies around the nation this year. On the surface, it would appear that it may be a year of tremendous change for the workers’ compensation industry. But will it? After all, those bills all have to survive the process…

A study conducted by researchers at Temple University has produced some surprising statistics. It seems to suggest that “medical marijuana may lead to fewer workers’ compensation claims.” They found that:  In states with laws allowing medical marijuana…. there was a nearly 7% decline in workers’ comp claims. When there were claims, they were for shorter…

We know that safety in the workplace is an important topic. Over the years employers and workers have been inundated with requirements designed to help maintain a safe and healthy environment on the job. Many of the labels and procedures now in place are often blinding glimpses of the obvious; yet too many people ignore…

This blog post was first published on February 1, 2018, following that year’s Presidential State of the Union Address. Much of it is still relevant, and since Bob’s post for today was inadvertently torn up by Nancy Pelosi, we have chosen to offer it again. __________________________________ Legislators, Regulators, Judges and Fellow Citizens of the Workers’…

A bill we first discussed a few months ago appears to be advancing through the Colorado legislature that would grant workers’ compensation mental health benefits to Emergency Center Dispatchers. While the effort to include 911 dispatchers into the growing world of special protections for first responders is actually going on nationwide, Colorado seems to be one of the few…

We get a lot of press releases here at WorkersCompensation.com. It is understandable, as our news center serves between 20,000 and 40,000 article views every day. We are on the radar of PR people and others who mass distribute releases hoping to get their information out into the workers’ compensation marketplace. Some of them are…

An article last week inadvertently exposed a little discussed issue for the world of workers’ compensation. A woman, who allegedly defecated in a business parking lot eight times in a month was finally caught. She is a suspected “serial pooper,” and has earned the nickname the Parking Lot Pooper. She was finally caught – uh –…

I started the morning by intending to write a follow up to Bruce Burk’s article published last Monday discussing changes Uber is making in response to the new AB5 legislation in California. I’ve extensively discussed the challenges to the gig economy over the last few years, both in this blog and in presentations around the nation. While…