Everyone concerned with the plight of American workers should read the article. Manufacturing does seem to be growing once again in the USA. The article points out several reasons for this trend, including the increasing cost of Chinese manufacturing and increased American productivity. The news is not great, because many, if not most, of the new manufacturing jobs pay less than the jobs we lost. However, the jobs seem to be coming back.
I grew up in a tiny little factory town that proudly made Vise-Grip wrenches. The family-owned company supported generations of families, provided summer jobs for college kids, and taught us what work meant. (My introduction to workers’ compensation came at age 18 with an industrial injury.) However, the plant was sold and resold and resold until it was finally uprooted and sent to China. My hometown, like so many others was devastated.
A Bruce Springsteen song, “My Hometown,” brings tears to my eyes when I recall what happened to my hometown. These lyrics are particulary haunting:
“Now main streets whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there aint nobody wants to come down here no more
They’re closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they aint coming back to
Your hometown, your hometown, your hometown, your hometown”
Hopefully the mythical foreman had it wrong and the jobs are starting to come back to our hometowns! Keep on buying American, folks.
Today’s post comes from guest author Rod Rehm from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, also known as CTS, is an uncomfortable and often painful wrist disorder. It is a common injury that can be caused by workplace stress. Here are four things you should know about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by repeated stress.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a Repetitive Stress Injury (RST). It occurs when the same action is repeated many times. When wrists are strained over and over again by actions like typing, the tendons in the wrist can become enlarged. Then the tendons can compress a nerve that runs through a passage in the wrist called the “carpal tunnel.”
Even if your wrists don’t hurt badly, you could still have CTS.
There are a whole range of symptoms associated with CTS, not just pain. Symptoms of CTS can include numbness or tingling pain in the hand, wrist, and forearm, impaired or lost nerve function, reduced muscle control, and reduced grip strength.
You can receive workers’ compensation for CTS.
According to Nebraska and Iowa law, workers can receive workers’ compensation from the onset of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This compensation includes 100% of all medical expenses that are reasonable and necessary to treat CTS, including both inpatient and outpatient care and prescriptions.
Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Gelman from Jon Gelman, LLC – Attorney at Law.
In a joint statement the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) again declared all forms of asbestos cause cancer.
Joint WHO/IARC Statement
19 February 2013
In response to allegations in the recent Lancet article, IARC in the dock over ties with asbestos industry (The Lancet, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60152-X), WHO and IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) state the following:
All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans (IARC Monographs Volume 100C) and stopping the use of all forms of asbestos is the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases (WHO Fact Sheet No 343).
The study on cancer in chrysotile workers in Asbest, Russian Federation, for which IARC is providing its epidemiological expertise, will supply important scientific information to better quantify the risk of cancers already known to be related to chrysotile as well as additional cancers suspected to be related to chrysotile, the asbestos fibre is the most commonly produced.
WHO and IARC take conflict of interest seriously and use a rigorous process to protect our research and development of norms, standards and guidelines from undue influence.
IARC confirms the completeness and accuracy of all data and statements of scientific results published in the British Journal of Cancer (Estimating the asbestos-related lung cancer burden from mesothelioma mortality, doi:10.1038/bjc.2011.563) and presented at a conference in Kiev.
IARC, as WHO’s cancer research agency, remains committed to providing the most reliable, independent scientific evidence on which public health decisions can be based.
Click here to read more about “asbestos” and workplace exposures
The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat today reports about the corrupt connection between the Russian asbestos industrry and the IARC (the International Agency for Research on Cancer). To advance the mining and …
Recently release statistics from the US Geological Survey brings some hope to reducing asbestos disease in the US. Historically, as the production of asbestos fiber lowers, so does the incidence of asbestos related disease, …
It is unconscionable in this day and age for a worker who is exposed to asbestos fiber in the workplace. Ironically, in the 1950’s, in Paterson, NJ, the city where the world renown asbestos researcher, Irving J. Selikoff MD, had …
In a new report, Fitch examines a range of loss scenarios and future payments for asbestos losses up to an ultimate industry loss of $85 billion. Based on recent development experience and its latest analysis of loss payment …
Applications for Social Security Disability now can be filed online.
We get many calls from folks who have been off work for a while, and are wondering if the time is right to place an application for Social Security Disability benefits. There are several program rules that should be kept in mind in making this decision.
The first thing to know about Social Security Disability is that it is a program for people who have one or more health issues that prevent the person from working for a period of at least 12 continuous months. If you have not yet been off work for that length of time, but anticipate that may be the case, you may want to go ahead and apply, since the entire process can take months and, in some cases, a year or more, before a final decision is made. On the other hand, if you are fairly confident you will be able to get back to work before 12 months has passed, then holding off makes more sense.
…benefits can go back no more than one year from the date of the application. This is a matter of concern for those who hold off too long and, as a result, lose out on benefits to which they are entitled.
To collect any benefits at all, one must satisfy the above-described 12-month duration requirement. That said, once a person has satisfied the 12-month rule, it also is helpful to know that benefits cannot begin until five full months after the date of the onset of disability. So, for example, if I am diagnosed with a cancer and, because of my treatment, I must stop working on June 7, 2013, (and I know, because of the course of proposed treatment, that I am likely to be off work for more than 12 continuous months), then I could apply right away, but benefits would not begin until December of 2013. The five full months that I must wait for benefits to begin (in this example, July through November) is called the waiting period. The month of June cannot be counted because it is not a full month. Thus, if there is some possibility I might be able to return to work before 12 months has passed, depending on how my treatment goes, then I might want to hold off initially, to see how it goes.
The other rule to keep in mind is that benefits can go back no more than one year from the date of the application. This is a matter of concern for those who hold off too long and, as a result, lose out on benefits to which they are entitled. So in the example above, I stop working due to cancer treatment on June 7, 2013. That is my onset of disability date. I think I will be able to go back to work in less than 12 continuous months, so I do not apply. Complications ensue, and I am still off work one year later, past June 7 of 2014. Maybe at that point I am feeling really exhausted and unwell from all of the treatment and/or the cancer, so I just cannot get organized to apply for benefits. By the time I apply, it is March of 2015. Benefits can go back no further than March of 2014, even though I satisfied the five month waiting period in December of 2013. Assuming my case is approved for benefits, I lose out on benefits for that month and January and February of 2014 because I waited too long to apply. To avoid this consequence, one should apply no more than 17 months after stopping work due to the disabling health problem.
Applications for Social Security Disability now can be filed online. While this eliminates the need to go in person to a Social Security office to apply, the process, before all is said and done, still can be quite daunting. For this reason, we are available to assist you with the online application. The Social Security Administration has an informative website, where you can access the online application. If you are thinking about applying for benefits, it is worth taking a look. If you have questions, feel free to give us a call. Here is the link:
Today’s post comes from guest author Rod Rehm and Emily Wray Stander from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.
We have been listening with interest to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) series about construction workers and businesses in Texas. The series about this industry confronts many of the issues that are being debated by society these days, whether in the judicial, executive or legislative branches.
To add some context, these topics include employing immigrant workers; paying a living wage; calling an employee an independent contractor; and ensuring workplace safety, workers’ compensation, and payroll taxes are all done, practices that specifically are not happening in Texas, according to the stories. A notable quote from the first piece is “Texas is the only state in the nation without mandatory workers’ compensation, meaning hospitals and taxpayers usually end up shouldering the cost when uncovered construction workers are hurt.” And we think the information from the second piece is quite telling that the business owner “asked that NPR not use his last name because the IRS might take an interest in his business, designs and builds landscapes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.” Because he treats his crew as “self-employed contractors,” meaning that the IRS would likely see his interpretations of tax law as illegal. From the story: “This is a key distinction. If Trent were to classify his workers as employees, he’d have to pay taxes, Social Security, unemployment and overtime. But by saying his workers are actually independent contractors – in essence, business owners – he’s off the hook.”
We think listening to these two pieces, at less than 15 minutes total, is a good opportunity to experience an applied illustration of what happens to the vulnerable when such protections as workers’ compensation are effectively dismantled for profit-taking and political reasons. Respected colleague Jon Gelman in New Jersey recently wrote a blog post that focuses on the first NPR report and “how bad it is for workers who get injured in Texas.”
In Nebraska, the anti-worker, pro-business Nebraskans for Workers’ Compensation Equity and Fairness group is backing LB 584 that would dramatically limit protections that workers have when it comes to being injured through a concept called evidence-based medicine/utilization review. In addition to our firm writing numerous blog posts about this legislation, EBM/UR is #8 in Ms. Stanton’s list of “trends throughout the country which would negatively impact existing Workers’ Compensation benefits.” And according to this article, politicians in Tennessee are looking to gain some brownie points with business and insurance by overhauling the workers’ compensation courts to the detriment of injured workers. Iowa workers and attorneys have to contend with #6 on the list, restricting doctor choice, while a bill in Nebraska’s legislature is in the works to do the same if passed.
We agree with what Ms. Stanton writes: “All workers need to be aware of these trends because the likelihood of legislation being introduced in their state against their interests is strong. Employee immunity has remained untouched, but workers’ benefits are consistently under attack as a result of the collective lobbying efforts of the insurance industry and large corporations. Unfortunately the great compromise is turning out to be one sided as workers are forced to endure multiple obstacles and hurdles to be entitled to fewer and more restricted benefits.”
So we would encourage you to join us in educating yourselves about how workers’ compensation “reform” can lead to stories like NPR’s cautionary tales about the construction industry in Texas and to explore what’s going on in your state legislature. Finally, get involved in your state’s political process to advocate for workers!
Today’s post comes from guest author Nathan Reckman from Paul McAndrew Law Firm.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics “Workplace Injuries and Illnesses – 2010” report, the United States is becoming a safer place to work. In 2010, there were 3.1 million non-fatal work injuries reported. This translates to 3.5 injuries per 100 full-time equivalents, a slight decrease from the 2009 rate of 3.6 injuries per 100 full-time workers. The rate of injuries per 100 workers has been decreasing every year since 2002. In 2010, Iowa reported an above average number of work injuries, averaging 4.4 injuries per 100 full-time equivalent workers.
Of these 3.1 million injuries, nearly 76% (2.2 million) of injuries occurred in the service industry. Service jobs make up 82.4% of the labor market. Nearly 24% (0.7 million injuries) occurred in manufacturing industries, which make up 17.6% of the labor market.
Surprisingly, the state owned nursing and residential care facilities workers reported the most injuries at 14.7 injuries per 100 full-time equivalents. The industry with the most reported injuries in 2009, Local Government supported Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction, improved from 12.5 injuries per 100 full-time equivalents to 8.6 injuries per 100 full-time equivalents in 2010.
The statistics are encouraging, but I look forward to the day where there are no fatal workplace injuries, and where workplace safety is a primary concern for all employers and workers.
The Washington State Workers’ Comp Solvency Crisis is Going Away…
Let’s review the history here. In 2010, Washington voters rejected, by an 18-point margin, an initiative to “privatize” our workers’ compensation system. The impetus for the initiative, sponsored by the business and insurance community, was to bring “free market” savings to the system and save it from collapse. That effort having failed miserably, the powers that be stirred up the 2011 Washington Legislature over the financial plight of the Department of Labor & Industry’s (Department) lack of reserves, largely due to the recession which started in 2008. The 2011 legislature passed a series of measures, including a limited form of “lump-sum buyouts” for certain claims and more employer control over injured workers’ medical treatment, that were expected to generate about $1.3 billion in savings over four years. Fast forward to 2013, and those 2011 amendments are now actually projected to save about $1.5 billion with no further changes. And some of the 2011 changes have not even been fully implemented yet.
The bottom line here is that any basis for the panic and frenzy whipped up by business and the Republican Senate about the impending collapse or insolvency of our system has disappeared, and there now should be no reason to reintroduce measures that even further limit the rights and remedies of Washington’s injured and diseased workers in the upcoming session.
At a Workers’ Compensation Advisory Committee meeting in June of 2012, which focused on a State Auditor’s report about the low level of the Contingency Reserve, a worst-case scenario projecting the possibility of ten years of double-digit rate increases caused business lobbyists to start a mantra about a “mother of all rate increases” just around the corner. But, following a large rate increase in 2011 to stabilize the accident insurance fund, and despite continuing medical cost inflation, the solvency of the fund has improved such that our workers’ compensation system had an average rate increase of ZERO in 2012 and 2013! Despite the improved financial picture for compensating Washington’s injured and diseased workers, the business community, aided by Republican legislators, brought an array of “reform” bills to the 2013 legislative session – including a wide open “lump-sum buyout” bill that would have extended this process to the vast majority of claims, essentially gutting Washington’s one hundred year-old system of workers’ compensation. The ostensible reason cited by legislators in our Republican-controlled Senate as necessitating these changes has been the still relatively low amount in the Department’s Contingency Reserve for funding the system in the future.
The array of bills brought to the session, opposed by the Democrat-controlled House and Governor Inslee, died at the end of the regular session. However, the so-called “reform” proponents are lining up to reintroduce some of these in the Special Session which began on May 13. Based on information recently released by the Department, the air may have gone out of the “reform” balloon. The Department reports a net operations income of $250 million in the second half of 2012, and most importantly, the system’s Contingency Reserve increased 64% from June to December of 2012, way above projections! And even without a rate increase in 2013, the Department projects it will add another $82 million to reserves by the end of the year. At this point, a very modest 5.5% rate increase is projected for 2014 to keep building the Reserve fund back to its appropriate level.
The bottom line here is that any basis for the panic and frenzy whipped up by business and the Republican Senate about the impending collapse or insolvency of our system has disappeared, and there now should be no reason to reintroduce measures that even further limit the rights and remedies of Washington’s injured and diseased workers in the upcoming session.
Fourth & Vine Building – in the shadow of the Space Needle!
After TWENTY YEARS in our Pioneer Square office, Causey Law Firm is MOVING!
The office will be closed on Friday, May 31st and will reopen in our new location as of 1:00 pm on Monday, June 3rd. Time loss compensation will be processed on both dates.
Our mailing address, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and fax number will all remain the same. Located on the corner of 4th & Vine in the Belltown neighborhood, our physical address will be:
2601 4th Avenue, Suite 340, Seattle, WA.
Our new location offers convenient access with a load zone for quick stops and plentiful metered parking. Two conference rooms and individual offices will make for comfortable meetings.
If you, or a loved one, are diagnosed with a severe or aggressive condition, you may qualify to be immediately approved!
One question that I am asked frequently by folks considering applying for Social Security Disability is “How long do I need to be off work?” This question is based on a slight misunderstanding of the Social Security rules. Your medical condition, or combination of conditions, that prevents you from working must have lasted or be expected to last a minimum of one year, (or be expected to result in death), in order for you to qualify for Social Security Disability. That year does not need to have passed, in order for you to file your application. If your condition is not expected to get better, or if a long course of treatment is planned that would take you out past one year, then you can file your initial application. If there is clear medical evidence that you will be unable to work for at least a full year, there is no need to wait for the year to elapse before starting!
If you have not been off work for an entire year, but your condition is expected to last at least that long, you should apply right away.
If your condition is not expected to get better, or if a long course of treatment is planned that would take you out past one year, then you can file your initial application. If there is clear medical evidence that you will be unable to work for at least a full year, there is no need to wait for the year to elapse before starting!
If you have not been off work for an entire year, but your condition is expected to last at least that long, you should apply right away. Benefits can’t begin until you have been disabled for five months, and an initial application usually takes 3-5 months (sometimes longer) to process, so the sooner you file your application, the sooner you may get your benefits.
Of course, Social Security may deny your claim initially anyway, in which case you should appeal the decision. We have had several clients who hit the one-year duration mark while we were in the appeals process. A Social Security claim can take up to two years (sometimes longer) from the initial application until adjudication at a hearing, so the sooner you start, the better.
If your diagnosis is terminal, Social Security will make every effort to expedite the processing of your claim. I find it heartening that we don’t receive many inquiries for assistance from people with terminal conditions; I take this to mean that Social Security is doing the right thing and approving them right away.
Social Security has a list of conditions that are automatically approved, called Compassionate Allowances Conditions – if you, or a loved one, are diagnosed with a severe or aggressive condition, you may qualify to be immediately approved! Check the following list at Social Security’s website:
When you file your application, be sure to point out that you believe your condition is on the list.
I also receive calls with a variation on this question, from folks who are still working: “How can I get my Social Security started, so I can stop working?” This call is not from people who are attempting to somehow ‘game’ the system, but rather folks who have been told by their doctors that they should stop working, or people who know that their work activity is exacerbating their medical conditions – but who can’t afford to stop working without a guarantee of income. Unfortunately, this is one of the many Catch 22s of the Social Security Disability world – there is no way to get your benefits started up, until you stop working*.
One of the first things that Social Security will do, when you file your application, is look up your recent and current earnings. If you are still working at a level considered above SGA (Substantial Gainful Activity), then they will not even order your medical records. The fact that you are working, proves that you can – whether or not your doctor has said that you shouldn’t, whether or not you are in pain, whether or not working is causing your condition to get worse.
Please, do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions about Social Security Disability.
*There is a level of earnings under which Social Security doesn’t count your income against you; this level is called “Substantial Gainful Activity”, and it can vary from year to year. In 2013, earnings under $1,040 per month are considered less than Substantial Gainful Activity, though any earnings will cause Social Security to more closely scrutinize your claim (considering, for example, whether you could perform your currently part-time job on a full-time basis, etc.). A year-by-year look at the Substantial Gainful Activity amounts can be found at http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/sga.html
The Social Security Administration turns down many worthy applicants when they first apply.
There is a lot in the news these days about the Social Security Disability Program, with some pundits suggesting people are getting on benefits simply because they are unemployed, or because they claim to be injured or ill when in fact they are able-bodied and fully capable of working. Every day, all day, I work with people filing for Social Security Disability benefits. So I work with the program’s rules – yes, there are rules for deciding these cases – it is not enough just to claim to be disabled. And I come face to face with individuals who are struggling, sometimes with a major health issue such as cancer, or rheumatoid arthritis, or Multiple Sclerosis. Other folks have multiple health problems that have combined to force them from the labor market. All of them have medical records, often reams of them, documenting diagnoses, chronicling surgeries and other treatment regimens. This is one big thing I think the general public does not know: a person must have one or more diagnoses from a qualified physician that could account for the symptoms and limitations he or she is reporting to Social Security. There must be convincing medical documentation. Much of my day is spent obtaining and reviewing the medical records of my clients, and ensuring that the decision-makers at Social Security also see them.
…the medical condition must be not only serious, but also prolonged.
Many people are not familiar with Social Security’s definition of disability or the program’s rules, so they do not realize that the disabling medical condition or conditions must be serious enough to have prevented the person from working for AT LEAST 12 continuous months. If the individual has not yet been out of the labor market for a period of at least one year, it must be very clear that this will be the case. In situations where there is doubt about this, Social Security typically turns down the claim. I have had callers who have been unable to work for a few months while going through chemotherapy treatment for cancer, but have been able to get back to work in less than one year. They do not qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. So the medical condition must be not only serious, but also prolonged.
One broadly held belief about Social Security Disability is, in fact, true: The Social Security Administration turns down many worthy applicants when they first apply. It is necessary to appeal (the first appeal is called a Request for Reconsideration). Often, a second denial follows. Then it is necessary to request a hearing in front of a judge. For a person who is too sick to work, not feeling well, and home alone trying to navigate this system, it can be daunting. One of the joys of my practice is our capacity to lend support to such individuals, to take the reins of the case and drive it forward, so my client can concentrate on taking care of herself or himself while I and my staff handle the legal stuff.
We are able to offer representation to people at any stage in the process, including initial application. We are happy to talk with callers who are weighing their options, and simply need information in order to know whether to apply for benefits in the first place. There is no charge for such calls, so do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions about Social Security Disability.
