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It is probably time to give a thought to giving a close look at all of your Insurance Policies! Occasionally, we can better understand something if we take a look at where it “came from.” Such may very well be the case with WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION.
“As is so often the case,” Jim Bivona of Bivona Insurance Group, LLC, an Independent Insurance Agency that serves the Phoenix Metro area regarding Insurance including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, and Peoria, Arizona to name just a few, shared, with just a hint of reflection in his voice, “WORMEN’S COMP was not an ‘over-night’ success, so to speak. Rather, it took a while to become what we know it as today.”
Bivona couldn’t be more right. The whole concept of WORKMEN’S COMP became a reality in the United States in 1855, when Alabama and Georgia enacted Employer Liability Acts. By 1907, twenty six other states had invoked similar Acts. The crux of the verbiage in these laws allowed employees to sue an employer, providing an opportunity for them to prove an act of negligence or omission had taken place. Every state had enacted a WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION Program by 1949.
In the beginning, WORKMEN’S COMP was issued on a voluntary basis. Mandatory coverage, it was argued, would violate the 14th Amendment - – creating a situation where the employer would be deprived of “property without due process.” A United States Supreme Court ruling in 1917 (New York Central Railway Co v White), however, determined that such was not the case. As a result, many states enacted compulsory WORKMEN’S COMP laws.
“One of the major concerns a company has regarding WORKMEN’S COMP,” Bivona went on to add, “revolves around the cost factor. What I always assure them is, compared to the good will it affords employees, to say nothing of the security!, the cost is far outweighed by the benefits.”
To say this is an understatement would be a gross understatement in itself! In a 2010 National Compensation Survey conducted by the BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, it was noted that the cost factor varied per the industry, as indicated below:
- 4.4% – Construction Industry
- 1.8 % – Manufacturing Industry
- 1.3% – Service Industry
- 1.6% – Over-all Average of Cost
Understanding WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION is an important aspect of Business Knowledge. As a result, you should contact Jim Bivona at 623-256-1000 with any questions, and he will be happy to discuss this concept with you in greater detail, and suggest some ways you may be able to improve your Business Coverage.
To learn more about the BIVONA INSURANCE GROUP, LLC go to www.bivonainsurance.com.
(To learn more about this issue, check out “WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION.”)
