Bill to thin workers' comp rolls founders (get injured workers kicked off the workers' compensation)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8246957?source=rss

By Paul Rolly
Tribune Columnist
Article Last Updated: 02/13/2008 01:24:41 AM MST

Rep. Mike Morley's attempt to help employers get injured workers kicked off the workers' compensation insurance program got a cool reception from a state advisory committee overseeing workers' compensation issues.

The Spanish Fork Republican, who is a construction company owner, brought his HB384 to the Utah Labor Commission's Workers Comp Advisory Committee for a favorable recommendation to the Legislature, but only got a 5-5 vote Monday.

Employer-based groups backing the bill have clashed on the issue with advocates for the working class who oppose it. The bill creates avenues for companies to avoid liability if certain workers get hurt on the job.

Morley's construction industry, by the way, is one of the industries most prone to injuries on the job.

His bill would make ineligible for workers' compensation benefits or disability payments an injured employee who was convicted of a crime, like being in the country illegally, for example. (The construction industry hires a lot of undocumented workers, by the way.)

The proposal flies in the face of five Supreme Court decisions in other states, the latest being in South Carolina, where the court held such a law would encourage employers to hire undocumented workers since they wouldn't have the burden of insuring them because they wouldn't be eligible for workers' compensation.

FULL story at link.