Key Publication on State Workers' Comp Laws Brought Back from the Dead
The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) and the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) announced a partnership to continue publishing a key resource for workers' compensation professionals. For the past 20 years "State Workers' Compensation Laws," an inventory of the states, had been published annually by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department ended the publication in 2006.
According to a survey done by the IAIABC, users of the publication found great value in its annual report. As a service to IAIABC and WCRI members and other system stakeholders, the WCRI agreed to conduct the study with assistance by the IAIABC. It was the first collaborative effort between the two organizations.
The project will continue the many comparative tables from the DOL publication, but in Web-accessible form. According to the organizations, no other publication offers the same in-depth description of system features in such an easy-to-access format. The renewed report will continue most of the same categories of information; however, the survey of states will be redesigned. Questions will be rephrased to be more meaningful to current practices and new information requested, the organizations said.
The 2007 report is expected to be available during the first quarter of 2008. The report will be free to WCRI and IAIABC members through their respective Web sites and available to the public for a fee from WCRI to help defray some of the annual costs.
The IAIABC is an association of government agencies that administer and regulate their jurisdictions' workers' compensation acts. They strive to gather the best resources available to solve the practical administrative and operational problems of their members.
WCRI is an independent, not-for-profit research organization providing objective information about public policy issues involving workers' compensation systems.