LaborPress

December 1, 2014
By Stephanie West

New York, NY – The New York Workers' Compensation Alliance (WCA) recently released a White Paper that made a series of recommendations to reform the New York State Workers' Compensation system. Workers' Compensation Alliance Chair and white paper author Robert Grey stated, "The purpose of this paper is to call for wholesale changes in the workers' compensation system that will help it return to its core mission of protecting injured workers. 

These workers have been largely abandoned by a system in hot pursuit of 'cutting costs.'  Every on-the-job injury represents an obligation to be met by business and government, not a cost to be ignored, avoided or minimized," said Grey.

The report lays out a landscape of evidence that the needs of workers hurt on the job are not met under the present system in New York State. We cannot continue to ignore an antiquated program as thousands of workers go without the care and support they need. The system is focused on reducing employer costs and increasing the profits of insurance companies at the expense of workers. This document must be taken as a call to action for change.

The paper was cross-endorsed by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), and the National Economic Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), two organizations that have been advocating to improve the workers' compensation system for years. The paper's release is part of an ongoing effort by the three organizations to ensure that injured workers can adequately benefit from the workers' compensation system.

"The workers' compensation system is a fundamental part of the social safety net.  It is supposed to be worker-friendly, and to deliver medical care and payment for lost wages quickly and easily.  The 2014 White Paper shows some of the ways the system has deteriorated over the past twenty years," continued Grey.

The white paper can be downloaded here:
http://nycosh.org/coshpr/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/STATE-OF-THE-SYSTEM-2014-Release.pdf
 
*** For questions or comments about the report. Attorney Robert Grey can be contacted at 516-249-1342 or RGrey@GreyandGrey.com.

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