The Workers Compensation Guide

Abstract

The Workers Compensation Guide (International Risk Management Institute, 1994) International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI) of Dallas publishes and regularly revises several substantial works in the commercial property-liability insurance field, including comprehensive multivolume guides to commercial automobile, workers' compensation, and general liability insurance. The Workers Compensation Guide is a brief (137-page) survey of workers' compensation laws, insurance coverages, and risk management techniques. The ten contributing authors, four of whom are on IRMI's staff, provide a handy and readable reference for newcomers to the subject or for those insurance professionals who do not need the very high degree of detail available in IRMI's two-volume compendium which has the disarmingly down-to-earth title IRMI's Workers Comp. The Guide is not quite as comprehensive as one might wish (as discussed below), but it contains a very satisfactory general overview of the topic as well as neatly condensed discussions of many important subtopics. The first chapter carefully and accurately summarizes the various state and federal workers' compensation laws and related employer-liability laws, such as the FELA, the Jones Act, and the general maritime law. Unfortunately, the treatment of two critically important areas-the twofold meaning of the statutory formula arising out of and in the course of employment, and the distinction between employees and independent contractors-is quite superficial and might lead uninitiated readers to overlook the potentially complex problems that are presented in determining exactly which accidents and which individuals are covered by the no-fault workers' compensation system as opposed to tort law. Self-insurance and state insurance funds are mentioned as alternatives to the purchase of commercial insurance, but the compulsory purchase of insurance under most state laws is not specifically mentioned. Compulsory coverage of employees in most states is contrasted with the nature of workers' compensation in New Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas, but the text is slightly incorrect or out of date with regard to all three of these states. (New Jersey is a mandatory state as a practical matter; South Carolina is no longer an elective state; and the current situation in Texas is so exotic that it cannot be easily classified or summarized.) The book does not at all discuss the exclusive remedy feature of workers' compensation laws and does not mention subrogation rights until the subject arises in the context of the standard policy form. Therefore, readers without prior knowledge of the subject are left to infer the most basic principle of workers' compensation: that the injured worker is deprived of tort remedies against the employer (but not against other responsible parties) in exchange for guaranteed nofault benefits. Also, readers may not appreciate the fact that either the worker or the insurer may sue responsible third parties. Subsequent chapters deal with the standard NCCI Workers Compensation and Employers Liability policy form and endorsements, beginning (as one might not expect) with the relatively minor 1992 revisions and progressing to the basic policy form itself, with a good discussion of the difference between the two coverages (statutory no-fault benefits versus tort damages), and then to the important endorsements. …