Author: Robert Wilson

It hurts just thinking about it. The Illinois Policy Institute recently issued a report that says the combined cost of workers’ comp for the various municipal and state systems in Illinois totals a whopping $1 Billion a year. That number, by the way, is calculated without being able to get full statistics from the city…

It was almost to the point of amusement that I read an article Friday written by our own Angela Underwood regarding a legislative bill intended to establish an Opt Out system in Arkansas. Underwood was writing about Arkansas SB 653, but my amusement was rooted in all of the quotes regarding the Texas non-subscriber system.…

This has been a hectic few weeks here at the office. Regular visitors to the WorkersCompensation.com news area know that we launched a major redesign of the CompNewsNetwork about 3 weeks ago. The launch has been planned in phases, with the first being a complete redesign in format, along with the establishment of two new…

Two prominent news items I read this week, both related to driving incidents, are potential reminders that having employees on the road can be a significant risk. They also make me hope for early adoption of autonomous driving technologies, but that is a subject for another day. Unless you were under a rock or completely…

I’ll warn you right now. This is a “suck it up buttercup” kind of post. Even more interesting, this post is of an extraordinarily rare variety; one where I actually (kind of sort of) sing the praises of a modern college administrator. But first, let me get to the facts of the story. Those are…

A bill currently before the Montana Legislature presents some interesting ethical challenges. Senate Bill 116 could make injured employees ineligible for workers’ comp benefits if they knowingly fail to disclose a previously existing medical condition pertinent to a job on any pre-employment applications. The idea behind this bill is emotionally enticing, because it targets people who…

I know two things for certain. 1) Workers’ comp just can’t fix stupid, and 2) I am really beginning to like the Waffle House. The 24-hour southern coffee shop chain has long been a staple for both early morning and late night fair, offering hot coffee and delicious pecan waffles for all who want them.…

I’ve been fairly critical of the Florida Legislature and its initial attempts to “fix” the states workers’ compensation system. This year I’ve described their initial considerations this way: If Florida workers’ comp were a house, it would be on fire. Smoke would be billowing from every crack and opening, and flames would be shooting out…

Personally, I blame the Oxford Comma. Rather, I blame the Oxford Comma, and Judge David Langham for his extensive analysis of this little thought about punctuation practice. Judge Langham wrote a rather extensive review of a legal case recently, discussing the confusion and controversy surrounding the absence of an “Oxford Comma”. He explained that an…

I can tolerate many things, but not being misled. When the untruth is blatantly obvious and patently insulting, it tends to really piss me off. And the whopper I received from the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) last week was a truly fine example of this. RIMS, as everybody knows, operates the biggest risk…