Illinois has proposed two bills if passed could significantly decrease Workers Compensation claims and costs

New Policies Regarding Employees Discharged for Cause

Under the proposed bill SB2625, employers would no longer be required to pay temporary partial disability to employees who have been terminated for cause. Employees who feel they have been unfairly fired and denied benefits would be able to request a hearing with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. If the termination is found not to be the employee’s fault, all benefits would be restored and retroactively paid from the time the employee became disabled.  With this new proposed bill this is a good time for employers to review their workers compensation investigation policies or procedures or establish a good workers compensation investigation process.  A good investigation will help the employer determine fault as well as require post-accident drug testing and other evaluators to assure determine if the employee is at fault and/or violated a company policy.

Repeated Injuries on the Job

Another bill proposed in Illinois, SB2623, amends the Workers’ Compensation Act to decrease benefits for workers who have been injured repeatedly in the same part of their body. Under this new legislation, an employee who has already been awarded partial disability for a non-disfiguring injury to a specific body part will have the amount of that award deducted from any further claims for injury to that body part. Details of the bill include the following:

• A shoulder injury is considered to be equivalent to an arm injury, and benefits already paid for one will be deducted from benefits paid for the other.
• A hip injury is likewise considered to be equivalent to a leg injury.
• The largest possible cumulative award for partial disability will be set at 500 weeks, which will be awarded for total loss of use of the employee’s body.

These regulations are designed to cut down on redundant claims and disproportionately high awards for minor injuries.