May 6, 2020
If only 10 percent of health care workers contract COVID-19 and all of their claims are deemed compensable, workers’ compensation loss costs for that sector could double or even triple in some states, according to an analysis by the National …
May 5, 2020
While the potential cost of relaxing a tenet of the workers’ compensation system to deal with extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 could top $50 billion, it’s more likely to be one-fifth of that, an analyst reported recently. States like Michigan and …
May 5, 2020
Before the coronavirus outbreak, furniture deliveries at Sunnyland Outdoor Living meant two employees sitting side-by-side in a truck. Now, one will be driving the truck while the second follows in a car. And when Sunnyland’s workers reach a customer’s home, …
May 1, 2020
U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia on Thursday defended his department’s handling of workplace safety during the coronavirus pandemic, saying “the cop is on the beat” in response to union criticism about a lack of directives to protect workers. In a …
April 30, 2020
U.S. consumer advocates are urging Congress to resist growing demands by companies for protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits as states start to ease pandemic restrictions and businesses begin to reopen. Led by Public Citizen and the Center for Justice and Democracy, …
April 29, 2020
The new coronavirus doesn’t care about a blue uniform or a shiny badge. Police, firefighters, paramedics and corrections officers are just a 911 call away from contracting COVID-19 and spreading it. With N95 masks hanging off their duty belts and …
April 29, 2020
Garbage haulers still collect trash. Cops are on the beat. Couriers deliver food and packages. Insurance agents work from home. The coronavirus crisis would appear to have put the entire U.S. economy on ice. Twenty-six million people have filed for …
April 29, 2020
President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered meat-processing plants to stay open to protect the food supply in the United States, despite concerns about coronavirus outbreaks, drawing a backlash from unions that said at-risk workers required more protection. With concerns about …
April 27, 2020
A lawsuit filed on behalf of workers at a Smithfield Food plant in Missouri claims conditions at the plant are putting workers and the public at risk of contracting the coronavirus. The lawsuit, filed on April 23 by an advocacy …
April 27, 2020
The U.S. Labor Department issued new guidelines on Sunday for U.S. meatpacking and meat-processing plants that have seen a rash of coronavirus outbreaks, saying employees should be spaced at least 6 feet (1.8 m) apart and screened before they start …