Isobel Charle, Producer, publicnewsservice.org
Workers’ rights advocates are celebrating a new law mandating “good faith and fair dealing” in Washington’s workers’ compensation system.
They said the law will curb abuses which have denied workers fair claims.
Doug Palmer, a workers’ compensation attorney in Vancouver, explained Washington does not allow private insurers to provide workers comp coverage. Instead, employees are covered either by the state or large employers. Palmer said it means large companies and municipalities pay claims directly, which motivates them to be stingy.
“It creates a lot of incentives for self-insured employers like Boeing, like Weyerhaeuser, to minimize those workers’ compensation costs, despite evidence on the claim,” Palmer pointed out.
Palmer cited the example of an injured police officer who faced unexplained pay cuts for nearly a year, despite clear entitlement to the workers’ compensation claim. He noted the new law now requires employers to treat injured workers’ interests as equal to their own.
Previously, penalties for violations were as low as $500, which is insignificant for large companies. Under the new law, Palmer emphasized, fines for unreasonable delays in benefits will be increased and employers can lose their self-insurance certification if they violate the law too many times.
“That is really the ultimate penalty because they want to have that control over the claim,” Palmer stressed.
This win has been in the works for years, Palmer added, starting in 2020 with several related bills. He recommended if an injured worker believes their employer is not managing their claim in good faith they can file a complaint with the Department of Labor and Industries.
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