Changes Coming to Workers’ Compensation Laws

Gavel sitting in front of a construction cap
Changes Coming to Workers’ Compensation Laws

Workers' compensation is incredibly important as a way to provide money and support to those who are injured on the job, allowing them to cover the costs of medical treatment and, often, to get money to pay the bills while they recover. These laws are a way to keep the workforce strong and to ensure that workers don't have to be nervous that a single incident is going to put them out of a job and sink them too far into debt.

As such, it's important for all workers to keep an eye on even the smallest changes to these laws so that they know what alterations are coming and how their own rights may shift. A few changes are potentially coming up in Wisconsin.

The biggest potential change centers around a bill that was introduced by John Spiros and Duey Stroebel. The bill, according to proponents, is designed to keep workers from abusing the system in any way. On the other hand, opponents of the proposed bill claim that it attacks workers and could be detrimental to them.

Essentially, the bill would put new limits on compensation totals for specific injuries, meaning that there would be hard caps on how much could be paid out. It would also reduce the statute of limitations when traumatic injuries occurred, meaning workers would have to file more quickly or risk not being able to file at all. Finally, the bill would give the state government more power to go after people when fraud accusations were leveled.

As you can see, if this bill passes, it could have a huge impact on current laws in the state, so it's important to watch the progress.

Source: The Chippewa Times, "Wisconsin Legislature: Five bills to watch in 2016," Jessie Opoien, The Capital Times, Jan. 01, 2016