Workers’ Compensation Policy Review

Summary of the Contents – January/February 2007

             The employers’ costs of workers’ compensation for employees in private industry declined in 2006, reversing a four-year trend of higher costs, as reported in “Workers’ Compensation Costs for Employers 1986 to 2006,” by John Burton. Workers’ compensation costs as a percent of payroll declined from 2.47 percent in 2005 to 2.36 percent in 2006 in the private sector. There was also a decline in workers’ compensation costs as a percent of payroll in the state and local sector, where costs declined from 1.66 percent in 2005 to 1.63 percent in 2006.  Employers of the most inclusive category of employees – all non-federal employees – also experienced a decline from 2.31 percent of payroll in 2005 to 2.21 percent of payroll in 2006.  In the private sector, the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation in recent years are higher than the recent low of 1.92 percent of payroll in 2001, but are lower than in the period from 1993 to 1996, when costs as a percent of payroll always exceeded 2.8 percent of payroll.

             The second article, also by John Burton, examines “The Coverage of Work-Related Diseases in New York .”  The topic received considerable attention when workers participating in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery, and clean-up operations were temporarily barred from filing claims because of the statute of limitations in the New York Workers’ Compensation Law.  Burton identifies the restrictive definition of occupational diseases as the primary source of the bar to recovery for these workers.  New York devised a solution for the rescue workers, which Burton views as both questionable for workers affected by the World Trade Center tragedy and of no value to other workers in the state afflicted by work-related diseases.

 Information on the Workers’ Compensation Policy Review

             The Workers’ Compensation Policy Review is published six times a year.  Requests for a sample copy or for subscription information can be sent to WCPR, 56 Primrose Circle , Princeton , NJ 08540 -9416; by FAX to 732-274-0678; by e-mail to JBWCR@aol.com; or electronically by visiting the website: www.workerscompesources.com.