The PA Supreme Court has extended the Workers’ Comp application of the “traveling employee” doctrine to include an employee’s attendance at happy hours, holiday parties and other social gatherings that are sponsored by the...more
The new pandemic aid legislation was eight months in the making, includes 5,600 pages, and $2.3 trillion in aid and spending. With national unemployment at a record high, and moratoriums on evictions, and utility shutoff...more
After a seemingless endless wait, news of COVID vaccine distribution has business owners, government offices and school district administrators faced with a legal question they could not have foreseen at the beginning of...more
12/11/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Waivers ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workplace Safety
While everyone works through this anything-but-normal time in our country, it is important for employers to note that Pennsylvania Courts have generally included work-from-home injuries as compensable claims. However, there...more
Over the past two weeks of non-stop news coverage, featuring medical expert reports on the spread of the coronavirus, we have all learned the risks associated with human contact, and contact with things upon which the virus...more
Just a few short weeks ago, the Center for Disease Control’s Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases warned that the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. was “not a question of if, but when.” As...more
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently ruled that an employer cannot use a Compromise and Release Agreement (C&R) settling a Workers’ Compensation claim to avoid making payments to a medical care provider who rendered...more
For three decades in Pennsylvania, employers and Workers’ Compensation insurance carriers could seek an independent review of the “impairment rating” of an injured worker, in order to determine the percentage of disability,...more
Pennsylvania, like many other states, has a statutory section of its Workers’ Compensation law that is devoted to the designation of an impairment rating for an injured worker who is collecting Workers’ Compensation benefits....more
The initial report of a possible work injury must be handled carefully by the employer and/or its insurance carrier in order to avoid a scenario where an “accepted” claim should have been “denied” and vice versa. For decades,...more
While it seems the members of our state legislature have been busy doing nothing but arguing about the budget for the past year – one young state rep has proposed a bill that may have a positive effect on employers seeking...more
The costs of civil litigation, and uncertainties of a jury trial, have turned mediation into its own cottage industry. Now more than ever, parties involved in civil suits will voluntarily agree to mediate the dispute, with...more
Long term medical care related to workplace injuries can be a costly and frustrating proposition for employers and/or their Workers’ Compensation insurance carriers. In many cases, the injured workers’ medical care continues...more