 DotMac4Shill H8rPremium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA
1 edit | I think it was 60 minutes That did a piece on telecommuting and people ended up putting more hours in at home just because it was so much easier to pop into the home office.
But as an employer I can sympathize. A worker get injured at home, and it means big bucks in workers comp payouts. So what is the employer to do...inspect everyone's home to make sure they use a pot holder and that their stairs don't have toys on them?
This is just one of the considerations. It isn't always about controlling employee's every work moment.
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 james
join:2001-02-26
CWCville USA | Was there actually an example of someone getting injured at home and then applying for workers comp? Or is that just something that *could* happen, or *I'm sure has* happened. |
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DotMac4Shill H8rPremium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA
2 edits | Not in that 60 Minutes piece, but I know I would be concerned and that other business owners like me would be concerned. It only takes 1 claim to jack employers' worker's comp rates sky high, especially here in California where they are already close to 10% of payroll, even in office classifications. Then there is the risk of workers comp fraud where someone is injured at home and just claims they were working when they did it (went upstair to get a paper or whatever and took a spill). Worker's comp fraud is why a lot of rates are abnormally high. |
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james
join:2001-02-26
CWCville USA | By that reasoning we shouldn't allow workers to go home at all. They could hurt themselves at home, come in to work the next day and pretend to hurt themselves getting supplies.
If it becomes a problem then just change the rules for compensation so that the injury must happen on company property, otherwise it's the homeowners responsibility for not taking care of their own property. Or allow the workplace to sue the owner of the property (which happens to be that employee) for any costs incurred by their NEGLIGENCE. |
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DotMac4Shill H8rPremium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA | Yes, that is true. It's called worker's comp fraud and is very common. Employers are nervous that the fraud would only increase...or not. There could easily be a legit work injury at home but the employer can't control the safety of the environment (keeping toys off stairs for example or enforcing proper ergonomics) like they can and do at work.
You can't get the rules changed for compensation because of the trial lawyer union fight those changes in workers' comp laws. Any change in these laws would lower payouts which cuts into the pocketbooks of the greedy bloodsucking trial lawyers. |
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