Are you an “essential worker?” Am I? Does the contribution you make to the economy and society in general through the course of your work make any difference? Are we essential, or not? Doesn’t every position hold some value to the greater good?  In the era of COVID-19, there has been a great deal of…

Civil discourse in the workers’ compensation industry can at times be a challenge. The adversarial and sometimes acrimonious nature of the work we do doesn’t always bring the best out of people. Still, many people in the industry toil daily to provide necessary services while keeping communications professional and respectful. Understanding and respecting those with…

The state of Florida is gradually reopening after weeks of self-isolation and stay at home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, I will return to my office today, following two months of commandeering the family room and generally annoying my wife. The goal here, of course, is to return to some sense…

It almost feels like the second in a series, what with this article’s title being so similar to the last one posted in this blog. In that article, we asked, “We Don’t Pay for Viruses, Do We?” (Short answer: Now we do). Today, however, we discuss a completely unrelated topic. Wherein a virus can represent…

As COVID-19 continues to challenge the nation, the workers’ compensation industry is busy grappling with its own questions regarding the impact and responsibilities surround the virus. Compensability for employees who claim they contracted the illness on the job remains a very big question. We have already seen a push in numerous states to extend presumptive…

Note from Bob: This article first appeared on our site July 12, 2010, before the advent of this blog. It is a prediction of what the workplace would look like in the year 2020. Since it was written 10 years ago, I wanted to go back and see how my prognostications fared. While I clearly…