Worker's
Compensation Advisory Council
Highlights
of Major Accomplishments
1980 - 2000
The Council has achieved
numerous accomplishments. The following represent highlights of
accomplishments during the past twenty years. As highlights, the listing
of accomplishments is not intended to be neither all-inclusive nor
comprehensive. The accomplishments are grouped according to the primary
core values of the worker’s compensation system.
Universal Coverage
1980 – Allowed
employing departments within state government more discretion for the
payment of claims
1984 – Clarified the circumstances under which occupational
stress claims could be compensated
1984 – Defined situations in which vocational students could be
compensated for injuries incurred during training
1986 –
Clarified situations in which employees engaging in wellness programs
could be compensated for injuries arising from such programs
1990 –
Instituted leasing agencies as responsible parties for worker’s
compensation of leased employees if the agency retains rights or
obligations of the employment contract
1990 - Created
the Uninsured Employers Fund to be administered by the department
(implemented in 1994)
1998 –
Clarified that AFDC-JOBS and FSET program participants are employees of
the public agencies administering the programs unless the work-site
agency agreed to provide insurance coverage
Adequate Benefits
1980 through 1998 –
Increased the rate of disability and death benefits incrementally
1986 – Insured that
the compensation paid to part-time employees would not exceed the
actual earnings of the part-time job
1986 – Allowed
proportionate restoration of employee sick leave when it was
inappropriately used instead of worker’s compensation benefits
1988 – Provided for
workers injured on part-time jobs to have temporary disability
benefits increased to normal full-time earnings for comparable work
with the same employer if the worker is employed full-time at another
job or not restricting availability for full-time work
Low Administrative
Costs
1986 – Addressed
medical disputes by allowing the department to make determinations on
the reasonableness and necessity of treatment to which medical
practitioners must adhere
1988 – Clarified
authority to permit divided or partial insurance coverage
1992 – Instituted
strategies and processes to address reasonableness of medical fees and
necessity of medical treatments
Prompt Return
to Work
1980 – Created
limitations for permanent disability awards to physical limitation
only when employee returns to former employment when there is no less
than a 15 percent wage loss
1984 – Clarified
circumstances in which lump sum advances can be made to injured worker
Low Litigation
1986 – Clarified
the authority of the LIRC to set aside or modify their own or a
hearing examiner’s order within one year of its issuance
1986 – Allowed LIRC
greater discretion in correcting mistakes in its orders within the
time period that an appeal could be made to circuit court
1986 – Permitted
LIRC to reinstate orders that were set-aside to be reinstated when
further studies indicates that this action is appropriate
1988 – Instituted
the "tiebreaker" examination to address selected medical
treatment questions
1990 – Created the
nine part test for independent contractors
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