Workers Compensation Research Articles

Online Perspectives of Workers Navigating Workers' Compensation Systems: A Content Analysis of the Reddit Social Media Platform.

Social media platforms are increasingly used by the general public as a source of information on health-related and legal concerns, among other topics. Reddit.com, one of the top 10 most visited websites in the United States, is a popular social media platform that allows users to anonymously discuss various topics, including workers' compensation (WC). Understanding the candid concerns of workers who are navigating WC systems will allow for the development of more effective educational resources that are tailored to the needs of this population. Methods: In January-March 2023, a cross-sectional review of anonymous public posts submitted to the r/WorkersComp section of the Reddit social media website between December 2021 and December 2022 was performed. Post content was extracted from a systematic random sample and coded into themes/sub-themes and emotional tones by two independent reviewers. A third reviewer resolved any discrepancies in coding in order to reach consensus prior to data analysis. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2019 (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). Content from 200 original posts submitted to r/WorkersComp was reviewed and analyzed. Nearly 94.0% of posts (n =187) specified a state of residence, with posters most frequently residing within the United States in California (32.0%), New York (7.0%), Pennsylvania (5.0%), and Florida (5.0%). The most common primary theme was "medical" (27.0%, n = 54), with questions and comments related to provider complaints, medical care access, referral denials, maximum medical improvement, and independent medical examinations being the most frequent within this category. The second most common primary theme was "legal" (26.5%, n = 53), with questions and comments related to lawyer retainment and settlements being the most frequent within this category. The third most common primary theme was "general" (18.5%, n = 37), with questions and comments related to the general claims process, eligibility for WC, claim denial, and communication issues with claims adjusters being the most frequent within this category. The fourth most common primary theme was "employer" (14.0%, n = 28), with questions and comments related to employer retaliation, job security, and work restrictions being most frequent within this category. Only 37.0% of posts (n = 74) expressed a clear emotional tone, with frustration (13.5%, n = 10), fear (13.5%, n = 10), and confusion (13.5%, n = 10) being the most frequent tones observed in this sample of posts. Our findings indicate that there are workers who are navigating WC systems who use social media platforms such as Reddit to obtain information and advice on various aspects of WC, including medical issues, legal advice, and employer concerns. These findings may be used to address the information and education needs of workers who are navigating WC systems, which may help attenuate some of the frustrations surrounding the WC claims process.

학대피해아동쉼터의 근로환경에 관한 현장의 목소리

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine in depth how the shelter's working environment is perceived by the head of a shelter for abused children, and to derive alternatives to improve the working environment of shelter workers.
 Methods: A total of 3 FGIs were conducted by recruiting 13 facility heads who voluntarily agreed to participate, targeting shelter facility heads across the country. The FGI results were recorded after informed consent, the concepts found from the FGI analysis were coded, and the sub-topics extracted by categorizing the concepts were categorized into major themes. Results: As a result of the analysis, 4 major themes and 10 sub-theme are as follows. First, poor working conditions at shelters include lack of time for continuing education, no standardized work model, absence of job training manuals and training courses, necessity of supervisors and supervisors, second, the sub-topic of regional variation in remuneration system is local governments, third, the sub-topic of the need to protect the human rights of workers is the absence of guidelines for the protection of human rights of workers, the absence of sanctions against protected children who engage in violent behavior, and fourth, the psychological burnout of workers is related to cooking, etc. increased burnout due to housework and sacrifice of personal life in case of emergency.
 Conclusion: The policy proposal derived from the research results is to establish a replacement manpower system for workers who can be put into shelter overtime or weekend and night work in the community, provide a standardized manual for shelters, but include human rights protection, and a unified worker compensation system It was an improvement in the working environment, such as provision of supervision and supervision.

Using the Functional Comorbidity Index with administrative workers' compensation data: Utility, validity, and caveats.

Chronic health conditions impact worker outcomes but are challenging to measure using administrative workers' compensation (WC) data. The Functional Comorbidity Index (FCI) was developed to predict functional outcomes in community-based adult populations, but has not been validated for WC settings. We assessed a WC-based FCI (additive index of 18 conditions) for identifying chronic conditions and predicting work outcomes. WC data were linked to a prospective survey in Ohio (N = 512) and Washington (N = 2,839). Workers were interviewed 6 weeks and 6 months after work-related injury. Observed prevalence and concordance were calculated; survey data provided the reference standard for WC data. Predictive validity and utility for control of confounding were assessed using 6-month work-related outcomes. The WC-based FCI had high specificity but low sensitivity and was weakly associated with work-related outcomes. The survey-based FCI suggested more comorbidity in the Ohio sample (Ohio mean = 1.38; Washington mean = 1.14), whereas the WC-based FCI suggested more comorbidity in the Washington sample (Ohio mean = 0.10; Washington mean = 0.33). In the confounding assessment, adding the survey-based FCI to the base model moved the state effect estimates slightly toward null (<1% change). However, substituting the WC-based FCI moved the estimate away from null (8.95% change). The WC-based FCI may be useful for identifying specific subsets of workers with chronic conditions, but less useful for chronic condition prevalence. Using the WC-based FCI cross-state appeared to introduce substantial confounding. We strongly advise caution-including state-specific analyses with a reliable reference standard-before using a WC-based FCI in studies involving multiple states.

Long COVID Among Wisconsin Workers in the Workers' Compensation System: Associations With Sociodemographics, Vaccination, and Predominant Variant Period From March 1, 2020 to July 31, 2022.

This analysis aimed to determine the likelihood of developing long COVID among Wisconsin workers while adjusting for sociodemographics, COVID-19 vaccination, industry, and occupation. This retrospective analysis determined the odds ratios of developing long COVID among Wisconsin workers who were compensated for COVID-19 lost time during March 1, 2020 to July 31, 2022. A total of 234 workers (11.7%) were determined to have long COVID. Factors associated with long COVID were age ≥40 years, non-White race, infection occurrence during the initial and Omicron variant dominant periods, and the absence of COVID-19 vaccination. Workers in manufacturing and public administration were more likely to develop long COVID compared with those in health care and social assistance. Long COVID disproportionately affects some worker groups. This calls for more worker protection and preventative care to mitigate its impact.

Worker's compensation usage and return to work outcomes for Ontario public safety personnel with mental stress injury claims: 2017–2021

This study explored approved worker's compensation claims made by public safety personnel (PSP) with work-related psychological injuries to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of Ontario's Mental Stress Injury Program (MSIP) between 2017 and 2021. This worker's compensation program provides access to health care coverage, loss of earnings benefits, and return to work support services for psychologically injured workers. In 2016, the Government of Ontario amended legislation to presume that, for this population, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is work-related, potentially expanding access to the program. The aim of this study was to understand the volume and types of claims, return to work rates, and differences between PSP career categories in the first 5 years after the legislative change. Using a quantitative descriptive approach, statistical analysis revealed that claims increased over the 5-year period, with significantly more claims made in 2021 (n = 1,420) compared to 2017 (n = 1,050). Of the 6,674 approved claims, 33.5% were made by police, 28.4% by paramedics, 21.6% by correctional workers, 9.4% by firefighters, and 7.1% by communicators. Analysis of claim type revealed that police, firefighters, and communicators made more cumulative incident claims, while paramedics made more single incident claims. Differences were also observed in return to work rates, with fewer police officers, firefighters, and communicators assigned to a return to work program, and more paramedics successfully completing a return to work program. This study sheds light on differences among PSP in their WSIB Ontario MSIP claims and underscores the importance of continued research to develop a more robust understanding of these differences, to inform policy development for both employers and worker's compensation organizations.

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Versus Cervical Disc Replacement for a Workers' Compensation Population in an Ambulatory Surgical Center.

Retrospective Cohort. To evaluate patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) achievement outcomes between anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and cervical disk replacement (CDR) in the Workers' Compensation (WC) population. No studies to our knowledge have compared PROMs and MCID attainment between ACDF and CDR among patients with WC insurance undergoing surgery in an outpatient ambulatory surgical center (ASC). WC insurance patients undergoing primary, single/double-level ACDF/CDR in an ASC were identified. Patients were divided into ACDF versus CDR. PROMs were collected at preoperative/6-week/12-week/6-month/1-year timepoints, including PROMIS-PF, SF-12 PCS/MCS, VAS neck/arm, and NDI. Seventy-nine patients were included, 51 ACDF/28 CDR. While operative time (56.4 vs. 54.4min), estimated blood loss (29.2 vs. 25.9mL), POD0 pain (4.9 vs. 3.8), and POD0 narcotic consumption (21.2 vs. 14.5 oral morphine equivalents) were higher in ACDF patients, none reached statistical significance ( P >0.050, all). One-year arthrodesis rate was 100.0% among ACDF recipients with available imaging (n=36). ACDF cohort improved from preoperative for PROMIS-PF from 12 weeks to 1 year, SF-12 PCS at 6 months, all timepoints for VAS neck/arm, and 12 weeks/6 months for NDI ( P ≤0.044, all). CDR cohort improved from preoperative for PROMIS-PF at 6 months, VAS neck/arm from 12 weeks to 1 year, and NDI at 12 weeks/6 months ( P ≤0.049, all). CDR cohort reported significantly lower VAS neck at 12 weeks/1 year and VAS arm at 12 weeks ( P ≤0.039, all). MCID achievement rates did not differ. While operative duration/estimated blood loss/acute postoperative pain/narcotic consumption were, on average, higher among ACDF recipients, these were not statistically significant, possibly due to the limited sample size. ACDF and CDR ASC patients generally demonstrated comparable arm pain/disability/physical function/mental health, though neck pain was significantly lower at multiple timepoints among CDR patients. Clinically meaningful PROM improvements were comparable. Larger, multicentered studies are required to confirm our results.

Why presumptions are important in occupational health: The example of COVID-19 infection as an occupational disease.

Workers who become ill or injured on the job while undertaking extraordinary risks on behalf of the public are, at times, granted facilitated access to workers' compensation (WC) benefits through the application of presumptions in the compensation process. Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a broad range of occupational groups faced an elevated risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exposure at work to perform vital services to maintain our food supply, sustain needed transportation, provide health care, assure energy supply and others. Some states or jurisdictions in the United States recognized both the risk and the service of these workers by enacting COVID-19 presumption laws to streamline selected essential workers' eligibility for WC benefits. Other states did not. Results of these contrasting public approaches permit an examination of the impact of presumptions in compensation by examining the frequency and outcomes of COVID-19 claims in "COVID-19 presumption" and "nonpresumption" states. Despite state-level variations in economic response to the pandemic, industry mix, and presumption eligibility criteria, the use of COVID-19 presumptions appears to have substantially increased claim filing rates and improved access to benefits. Lastly, the additional costs of COVID-19 claims to employers and insurers were lower than initially predicted. In response to future airborne infectious disease outbreaks, workers' compensation presumption laws should be universally implemented to permit a broad range of high-risk workers to work on the public's behalf without fear of losing wages and incurring medical expenses associated with a work-related viral exposure.

Workman’s compensation as exclusion criteria in rotator cuff repair literature – are we inadvertently excluding race?

ABSTRACT Objective Despite an equal willingness to participate in clinical trials, there is evidence that several minority populations are systematically under-represented in studies. One potential cause and frequently used exclusionary criterion in orthopedic trials is patients with active workman’s compensation (WC) insurance claims. The purpose of this study is to determine demographic differences in patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with commercial and government insurance vs workers compensation claims. Methods This was a retrospective review of patients who underwent primary arthroscopic rotator cuff repair at a single institution in the northeastern United States from 2018 to 2019. Patients undergoing revision cases were excluded. Chart review was used to extract demographic data such as age, gender, insurance, and reported race. Results A total of 4553 patient records were reviewed and included. There were 742 WC patients and 3811 non-WC patients. Two hundred and forty-four patients did not report their race. Overall, WC patients differed from non-WC with respect to race (P < 0.001). One hundred and eleven (15.0%) of WC and 293 (7.7%) non-WC patients reported being ‘Black’ or ‘African American’ (P = 0.002). This compares to 368 (49.6%) WC and 2788 (73.2%) non-WC patients who reported ‘White’ (P < 0.001). About 16.8% of WC patients were identified as ‘Hispanic or Latino,’ compared to 5.2% of non-WC (P < 0.001). Conclusion African American and Hispanic/Latino patients are over-represented in workman’s compensation patient populations relative to non-workman’s compensation. Conversely, white patients are over-represented in non-WC patient populations, which serve as the basis for the majority of clinical study populations. Excluding workman’s compensation patients from clinical trials may lead to an underrepresentation of African American and Hispanic/Latino patient populations in orthopedic clinical trials. In doing so, the generalizability of the results of rotator cuff repair clinical outcomes research to all races and ethnicities may be compromised.

Kebijakan Pemberian Kompensasi Terhadap Pekerja Perjanjian Waktu Tertentu di Kabupaten Karimun

In 2020, Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation has been enacted. With this, it also changes the legislation regarding employment, including Government Regulation Number 35 of 2021. The purpose of this research is to find out the implementation of Government Regulation Number 35 of 2021 concerning PKWT, Outsourcing, WKWI, and PHK after the Constitutional Court Decision on Providing Compensation for PKWT Workers and providing solutions in accordance with the laws and regulations and facts found in the field in order to overcome the obstacles that occur. This research uses the Empirical/Sociological type of legal research because the data to be used is mainly data obtained directly which is primary data. Compensation is the right of workers who are bound by a Fixed-Term Employment Agreement (PKWT), so employers are obliged to provide the rights of PKWT workers at the end of the working period in accordance with the employment agreement. If the employer does not pay compensation rights, administrative sanctions will be imposed in accordance with applicable regulations.

Justice and Fairness in Academia: Are Women Underrepresented/Underpaid in Engineering and Science Fields? Comparing 2018 and 2021 Data

Although the U.S. government has made significant efforts to achieve gender equality, there still are some gender-based differences in worker compensation. This study investigates the existence of salary disparity by sex, academic rank, pre/during-COVID pandemic, and size of universities within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs. We base our empirical analysis on data gathered from the faculty of 4-year public universities in one state in the south-central U.S. in 2018 and 2021. We use factorial N-way ANOVA to control for faculty heterogeneity. Our analysis showed size, rank, year, and sex are all significant factors. Smaller universities pay less than larger public universities, the more senior tenured ranks make more, and pay did increase from 2018 to 2021. There are interesting findings when considering sex, as men earned more than women in STEM in both 2018 and 2021 as well as at all three school sizes. The exception was for full professors. Our study provides fresh insights into the gender pay gap, especially in male-dominated academic disciplines.

Early Care and Education Workforce Compensation, Program Quality, and Child Outcomes: A Review of the Research

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Despite the importance of early care and education (ECE) for children’s early learning and parents’ labor force participation, workers average low pay with few benefits. The precarity of work and low compensation contribute to staff turnover and other problems, with potential implications for staff well-being, children’s development, and parents’ employment. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems relating to the supply of and staff recruitment and retention in ECE. This paper provides a brief background and then reviews the empirical research linking early ECE worker compensation with program quality, children’s outcomes, and staff turnover. We identified a range of studies that examined pay or workplace benefits in ECE, the majority of which used nonexperimental methods. In general, most studies found small associations among low compensation, poor worker mental health or well-being, or turnover or intentions to leave their jobs or the early childhood field. Fewer studies examined associations between compensation and measures of quality or children’s outcomes, finding small or nonsignificant associations. One study using experimental methods found evidence that financial bonuses reduced staff turnover. Practice or Policy: Together, evidence suggests that low worker compensation is linked with poorer worker outcomes and staff turnover in ECE.

The Workers Compensation Burden: Does Compensation Status Lead to Increased Utilization of Healthcare Resources Following Foot and Ankle Surgery?

Category: Other Introduction/Purpose: The association between workers’ compensation (WC) patients and the increased risk of complications and poor outcomes following orthopaedic procedures has been well documented. Recent studies have shown that WC patients have a higher rate of subsequent pain or injury than non-WC patients following common foot and ankle procedures. Due to the increased risks of complications, poor outcomes, and chronic pain amongst WC patients following orthopaedic procedures, it is possible that these patients consume more healthcare resources than non-WC patients during the post-surgical period. This study aimed to investigate the amount of healthcare resources utilized by WC patients following a foot or ankle procedure compared with a procedure-matched control group. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of all WC and non-WC patients who had undergone foot (CPT 28001-28899) or ankle (CPT 27600-27899) procedures by a single surgeon from October 2017 through January 2020. Patients were excluded based on age ( &lt; 18 or &gt;70), bilateral procedures, presence of neuropathy, disability, and insufficient follow-up. Data collection included demographic, social, surgical, perioperative follow-up, and complications. Measures of healthcare burden included patient communications, physical encounters, processed documents, overall total prescriptions, the total number of office visits, days to return to work, and days to discharge from the clinic. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 28. Comparisons were conducted with Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test, or Fisher’s exact test. Power analysis determined the sample size with a 0.05 alpha level, 0.80 power, and 0.5 effect size. Results: 142 patients met the inclusion criteria including 71 WC patients and 71 non-WC patients. Measures of healthcare burden were greater in WC patients. WC patients had more communication encounters (median 6 vs 3; P&lt;.001), processed documents (median 6 vs 1; P&lt;.001), total prescriptions (median 5 vs 3; P&lt;.001), the total number of office visits (median 8 vs 6; P&lt;.001), days to return to work (median 119 vs 74; P&lt;.001), and days to discharge (median 267 vs 194; P&lt;.001). WC patients were also more likely to have postoperative complications (OR 2.1; P=.045), secondary surgeries (OR 8.2; P&lt;.001), and new complaints during follow-up (OR 1.9; P=.070). WC was less likely to cancel appointments (OR 0.4; P=.028). Conclusion: WC patients demonstrate increased healthcare resource utilization compared to the non-WC population. WC was associated with a higher burden on office staff requiring more time commitment to a single patient. Double the effort was evident on some measured parameters. WC patients also receive more medication prescriptions overall and are more likely to have complications, subsequent surgery, and new complaints remote to the inciting injury.

Narcotic Use and Prescribing Trends Among Workers Compensation Patients Undergoing Foot and Ankle Surgery

Category: Midfoot/Forefoot; Hindfoot Introduction/Purpose: Previous studies have shown that workers compensation patients (WC) have worse outcomes, and higher complications rates after orthopaedic surgery. Despite orthopaedic surgeons being the third highest prescribers of narcotic pain medication in the United States there have been no studies to specifically evaluate narcotic use among the WC population. The purpose of this study was to investigate narcotic use among WC patients who underwent foot or ankle operative procedures compared with a procedure matched control group. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted for WC and non-WC patients ages 18 to 70 years old who underwent foot (CPT 28001-28899) or ankle (CPT 27600-27899) procedures in an orthopaedic surgery practice from October 2017 through January 2020. Data collection included demographics, social, surgical, perioperative follow-up and complications. Outcomes measures were timing and number of narcotic prescriptions, total morphine milligram equivalents (MME), and procedure type. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 28. Comparisons were conducted with Mann-Whitney U test, chi square test, or Fisher’s exact test. Power analysis determined sample size with a 0.05 alpha level, 0.80 power, and 0.5 effect size. Results: 142 total patients met inclusion criteria, with 71 WC patients and 71 non-WC patients. There were no differences regarding the type of foot or ankle procedure performed (p=0.598). WC patients had double the number of overall narcotic prescriptions (median 2 vs 1; p &lt; 0.001). WC patients were prescribed in total 1,125 oxycodone MME and 871.8 hydrocodone MME (P &lt; 0.001), versus 750 oxycodone MME and 450 hydrocodone MME among the non-WC group (p &lt; .008). There was no difference in the number of tramadol prescriptions (p = 0.571). WC patients experienced more days between the date of last narcotic prescription and both index surgery date (median 27 vs 1, p = 0.001) and initial clinic visit date (median 105 vs 49, p = 0.002). Conclusion: This data demonstrates that WC patients portend worse outcomes and utilize narcotics at twice the rate and for longer periods of time post-operatively than non-WC patients. Increased narcotic use may potentiate narcotic dependence and likely leads to worse outcomes. Treating physicians must be aware of these trends in order to best manage these patients. Physicians may need to have longer discussions with WC patients regarding narcotic use post operatively as well as about outcomes and goals of surgery. Physicians should set early expectations with WC patients and clear limits on the amount of narcotics they are willing to prescribe postoperatively.

Occupational injuries and illnesses among law enforcement officers, 2001-2019: Findings from the Ohio Bureau of Workers'Compensation.

Occupational injuries are common among law enforcement officers (LEOs) and can impact an agency's ability to serve communities. Workers'compensation (WC) data are an underutilized source for occupational injury surveillance in the law enforcement field. LEOs WC claims from the Ohio Bureau of Workers'Compensation (OHBWC) from 2001 to 2019 were identified based on manual review of the occupation title and injury description. Worker, employer, incident, and injury characteristics were described by claim type-medical-only (MO) and lost-time (8 or more days away from work). Data are presented using injury claim counts. From 2001 to 2019, 50,793 WC claims were identified among Ohio LEOs. Of these, 68% were MOclaims (n = 34,622). WC claims significantly decreased over the 19-year period (p < 0.001). Seventy-five percent of WC claims were from a LEO with more than one claim and of these, 34% were from a LEO with five or more claims during the study period. Male officers and those aged 25-54 years incurred the highest proportion of total claims (87.8% & 91.8%, respectively). Violence (n = 17,247; 34%), falls/slips/trips (n = 9079; 17.9%), and transportation events (n = 7977; 15.7%) were the leading events. Among the 50,793 claims, there were 79,637 unique clinical diagnosis groups. The most common injury diagnoses were sprains (n = 32,796; 41.2%) followed by contusions (n = 13,529; 17%). Results can guide the development or improvement of workplace injury prevention strategies for LEOs. Efforts should be focused on better understanding and preventing violent injury events and sprains among LEOs, as well as preventing multiple injury events.

Determining Unmet Needs Among Workers' Compensation Stakeholders to Prevent Work Disability in the State of Vermont.

Vermont has high rates of young people receiving federal disability benefits leading to substantial gaps in the workforce. The purpose of this project was to determine the unmet needs of interested parties in the workers' compensation (WC) process. A type of focus group, experience groups, was used to elicit key parties' experiences in the WC system. Facilitators used open-ended prompts to encourage discussion among participants about their experience with the WC system. Data were analyzed using thematic coding procedures to identify common motifs. Common themes emerged including challenges in navigating the WC system, lack of communication among stakeholders, and providing and receiving appropriate health care to facilitate RTW. Understanding unmet needs of interested parties in the WC process allows for the creation of targeted, high-value, early intervention strategies to reduce long-term work disability.

Examining Predictors of Intention to Leave in Home Care and Differences among Types of Providers

The retention and recruitment of care providers are ongoing concerns in healthcare globally. Examining intention to leave (ITL) as a measure of retention, the existing literature has focused on nurses working in hospitals, with less attention paid to other care providers and other areas of practice. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the unique factors influencing ITL among three categories of care providers in home care: registered practical nurses, registered nurses, and personal support workers. This study assessed and compared predictors of ITL, including organizational commitment, job satisfaction, perceived supervisor support, burnout, role stress, work/family conflict, and community satisfaction. A convenience sample of home care staff working in one agency in a Canadian province was sent an electronic survey by e-mail in 2021. Responses (n = 185) underwent data analysis including descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression, as well as thematic analysis of two open-ended items. The results of the study indicated that 54% (n = 99) of respondents were considering leaving their job, and respondents were dissatisfied with their salary and benefits. Role stress, work-family conflict, and burnout differed significantly between groups. Several themes emerged for strategies to promote employees to stay with the agency, with the overwhelming strategy being higher wages/salary. Themes for why employees stayed with the agency included love for clients and commitment to their care, as well as fondness for the teams within which respondents worked. The findings of the study lead to several important implications and recommendations for the home care sector. Advocating for wage parity among healthcare sectors and other opportunities for compensation for home care workers is necessary. Additional strategies include supportive and innovative approaches for scheduling, teamwork, and working with staff to identify barriers and solutions in home care.

Compensation guarantees in crowdsourced delivery: Impact on platform and driver welfare

Crowdsourced delivery and other sharing economy platforms attract freelance workers by offering them flexibility in scheduling their own work hours. Those platforms, however, have been criticized for the lack of protection they offer workers. Since workers are treated as independent contractors, they do not receive minimum wage and other protection measures under labor law. In this paper, we examine the integration of driver compensation guarantees in a platform’s dynamic matching decisions. We study the problem of designing dynamic matching policies that guarantee a particular level of compensation for active workers over a time period, while maintaining work hour flexibility. We model three types of policies, that are either wage-based or utilization-based. We propose an MDP model to capture the dynamic and stochastic nature of the problem, then design a value function approximation algorithm to efficiently solve the large-scale MDP model. Extensive computational testing is conducted to assess the performance of the proposed solution methodology and the compensation guarantees, using synthetic and real-world datasets. Our findings suggest that the utilization policy results in the highest earning for drivers, though at the expense of longer empty miles from drivers’ origins to the pickup locations of matched orders. On the other hand, the effective wage policy leads to shorter average distance to pickup, but slightly lower earning to drivers. Both policies result in only a slight decrease in platform profit as compared to the base case, and exhibit lower dispersion in the distribution of driver earning while active. In contrast, the nominal wage policy shows a comparable trend to the base-case policy in terms of average driver earnings, suggesting minimal benefits for drivers.

Practical pathway for the management of depression in the workplace: a Canadian perspective.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and other mental health issues pose a substantial burden on the workforce. Approximately half a million Canadians will not be at work in any week because of a mental health disorder, and more than twice that number will work at a reduced level of productivity (presenteeism). Although it is important to determine whether work plays a role in a mental health condition, at initial presentation, patients should be diagnosed and treated per appropriate clinical guidelines. However, it is also important for patient care to determine the various causes or triggers including work-related factors. Clearly identifying the stressors associated with the mental health disorder can help clinicians to assess functional limitations, develop an appropriate care plan, and interact more effectively with worker's compensation and disability programs, as well as employers. There is currently no widely accepted tool to definitively identify MDD as work-related, but the presence of certain patient and work characteristics may help. This paper seeks to review the evidence specific to depression in the workplace, and provide practical tips to help clinicians to identify and treat work-related MDD, as well as navigate disability issues.

Of hopeful narratives and historical injustices – An analysis of just transition narratives in European coal regions

In recent years, the public discourse on the phase-out of carbon-intensive technologies and practices has come to a near consensus that a “just transition” is required. Yet, this term seems to have as many meanings as there are stakeholders using it. The purpose of this paper is to unpack the different meanings that regional stakeholders assign to it and the underlying dimensions of in(justice) that they invoke in their political communication.To this end, we employ a policy narrative analysis to study and compare the political discourse in four European coal and carbon-intensive mining regions: Ida-Virumaa (Estonia, oil shale), the Rhenish mining region (Germany, lignite), Upper Silesia (Poland, hard coal) and Western Macedonia (Greece, lignite). Specifically, we address the following research questions: Which narratives are characterising the political discourse around just transition? Which (in)justices are being invoked? Which patterns, similarities or differences are recognizable between regions?We found that hopeful narratives describing structural change as an opportunity to reinvent the region are prevalent in all regions. Strong narratives of resistance only prevail in Upper Silesia and Ida-Virumaa where a phase-out decision has not yet been adopted. In terms of injustices, we find surprisingly little evidence that injustices related to the immediate effects of the transformation (e.g. lay-offs and compensation for workers and companies) play an important role. Instead, the aspects related to the historical injustices produced by the legacy industrial system prevail. And perhaps most importantly, questions about access and allocation of the opportunities of the imminent transition are key and should be addressed more explicitly.

Impact of COVID-19 on occupational injuries and illnesses among nursing care facility workers: Analysis of California workers' compensation data, 2019-2021.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic greatly affected healthcare workers, both physically and psychologically, by increasing their workload and stress. This may also have increased their risk of occupational injuries. This study analyzed workers' compensation (WC) claims among California nursing care facility workers during 2019-2021, to assess the impact of the pandemic on occupational injury risk. This study used data from the California Workers' Compensation Information System. WC claims in prepandemic and pandemic periods were described and compared between nursing care facilities and other settings. Nursing facility cases were described by demographic, job, and injury characteristics. In 2019-2021, we identified 41,134 claims as nursing facility cases in California. Annual claims increased by 64.6% from 2019 to 2020 and then decreased in 2021, returning to levels similar to pre-COVID. In contrast, non-healthcare settings had decreases in claims during the pandemic. COVID-related claims accounted for 50.5% of claims in nursing facilities in 2020-2021; this proportion was much higher compared with other healthcare (35.7%) or nonhealthcare settings (14.3%). Non-COVID claims decreased during the pandemic but mental disorder or stress claims increased in nursing facilities, particularly in 2020 (+42.5%). Our findings show that nursing care facilities were more severely affected by the pandemic than other settings. We did not find evidence of an increased risk of occupational injuries during the pandemic, except for increased claims for stress or mental disorders. Our findings indicate a clear need to address psychological stress and mental health among nursing facility workers during a pandemic.