Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features some great video content and a history lesson with a replay of the Department of Labor’s recent panel discussion on the 50-year legacy of the Report of the National Commission on State Workmen’s Compensation Laws and whether the workers’ compensation system is fulfilling its obligation to injured workers.
In July 1972 – roughly 50 years after the passage of the first state workers’ compensation laws – the National Commission on State Workmen’s Compensation Laws evaluated whether state workers’ comp systems provided “adequate, prompt and equitable” compensation to injured workers. The reforms adopted in response to the commission’s recommendations have formed the basic structure of the modern workers’ compensation system in the U.S. Discussion included the effect of the 1972 commission’s report on the system, adequacy of benefits for workers, especially the most vulnerable, COVID-19 issues, and more.