Major Contractor Rule Shifts Advance in Illinois and New Jersey
- Illinois and New Jersey are advancing legislation that significantly alters how worker classification is determined for contractors, particularly impacting workers’ compensation requirements.
- These proposals aim to curb employee misclassification by enforcing stricter tests, likely forcing businesses to classify more workers as employees rather than independent contractors.
- If enacted, companies will face higher labor costs, including mandatory workers’ compensation insurance premiums and payroll taxes.
- These legislative shifts reflect a growing, multi-state effort to tighten labor standards and increase protections for gig and contract workers.
West Virginia Court Upholds Increased Disability Award
- The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld an increased permanent partial disability award for a worker’s leg injury, affirming a three percent additional impairment rating.
- The employer challenged the Board of Review’s decision based on conflicting medical evidence presented in the case.
- However, the court ruled that equally weighted, conflicting medical evaluations must be resolved in the claimant’s favor.
- This decision reinforces the state’s statutory requirement for resolving evidentiary conflicts in workers’ compensation claims.
Tennessee Denies Neck Claim Due to Unproven Causation
- The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board denied an employee’s request to add a neck evaluation to an existing shoulder claim due to unproven causation.
- The employee sought to include the neck injury ten months after the initial incident.
- The court ruled that adding a new body part requires a physician to affirmatively link the condition to the workplace accident.
- A conditional recommendation lacked the necessary medical evidence to establish legal causation.