Compensation Law Research Articles

Insurance in Sociolegal Research

Insurance has a long history in socio-legal research, most prominently as a window on accident compensation and related tort law in action. Recent work has extended that research, with the result that tort law in action may be the best mapped of any legal field outside criminal law. Sociological research has begun to explore insurance as a form of governance, with effects in many legal fields and across the economy. This essay reviews developments in both bodies of work. Part one examines the relationship between liability insurance and tort law in action using the metaphors of window and frame. Part two reviews research on insurance as governance. The conclusion returns to insurance as governance in the context of liability insurance, arguing that this is an especially promising field for socio-legal research.

The polarization efficiency of the thermal sampling technique in thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements

In this work, the polarization efficiency is examined for the technique of thermal sampling used in thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements, for the case where a very narrow temperature polarization window is used at the polarization temperature of T p . It is found that this has appreciable values only along a straight line in the E − ln τ 0 plane. The selectivity of the method is expressed by the widths Δ E ≈ 3 k T p and Δ ln τ 0 ≈ 3 of the distributions of the E and ln τ 0 values of the dipoles polarized by thermal sampling. A possible interpretation is also offered of the phenomenon known as compensation law, based on the selectivity characteristics of the thermal sampling technique examined in this work.

Business Regulation and Workers’ Compensation: A National Framework for Workers’ Compensation in Australia?

Labour law in Australia is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Fuelled by demands from big business and a dramatically changing constitutional landscape, the locus of regulation is shifting from the states and territories to the federal government. The most conspicuous illustration to date has been in the mainstream industrial relations arena as epitomized by the Howard Conservative Coalition Government’s Work Choices legislation. More recently, the Rudd Labour Government has championed a national approach to occupational health and safety law based on its ‘cooperative federalism’ agenda. Though less pronounced, workers’ compensation for injury at work has also been the subject of growing business demands for greater national regulation. In examining this issue, this paper will first of all outline previous attempts to develop a national workers’ compensation framework before turning to a consideration of more recent policy and legal developments, which have contributed to the emerging regulatory realignment of workers’ compensation laws and policy. The paper will also identify the major constraints on the drive for a national regulatory framework.

Workplace Harassment — A Health Issue: Anti-Discrimination Cases and Workers' Compensation Claims

This article describes the adverse health-related effects of racial and sexual harassment elicited from files held by the Western Australian Equal Opportunity Commission where the complainant has nominated sexual or racial harassment as a ground of discrimination. Those results are compared with publicly available data on work-related stress claims obtained from the Compendium of Workers' Compensation Statistics Australia 2004–06, arising from allegations of harassment. Information gleaned from a survey of unreported court decisions (from publicly available legal data bases, such as www.austlii.edu.au and www.ohs.alert.com ) is also reviewed. The purpose of examining this data is to consider the links between various forms of unlawful harassment, workplace stress and the evidence of adverse effect upon worker health. The results of this triangulation of data are consistent with that body of research which shows that workplace harassment can give rise to a range of adverse health outcomes. This paper explores how the inter-relationship of antidiscrimination and workers compensation laws may affect claimant behaviours.

Development of Stability Research on Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Control Systems and Approximation of the Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

The controller's design and analysis based on Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) models play important roles in the research of fuzzy control. When fuzzy control is being widely applied, the stability research on T-S fuzzy control supports the applications on the theoretical standpoint. The development of the stability research on T-S fuzzy control is surveyed in this paper. For the Lyapunov functions, this paper considers common quadratic Lyapunov functions, piecewise quadratic Lyapunov functions, fuzzy Lyapunov functions, nonquadratic Lyapunov functions and homogenously polynomially parameterized Lyapunov functions. For the control laws, this paper considers parallelly distributed compensation, non-parallel distributed compensation laws and homogenously polynomially parameterized control laws. By extensively applying the Pólya's theorem and the techniques for homogenous polynomials, the stability conditions are gradually developed towards necessary and sufficient. It is very important to recognize and master this development in order to further study fuzzy control and the related control theories.

Stability analysis for discrete‐time fuzzy system by utilizing homogeneous polynomial matrix function

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the stability of nonlinear systems represented by a Takagi‐Sugeno discrete‐time fuzzy model. The homogeneous polynomial matrix function (HPMF) is developed to obtain new stabilization conditions. Applying the HPMF to the non‐parallel distributed compensation (non‐PDC) law and non‐quadratic Lyapunov function, some new stabilization conditions are obtained by the following two means: (a) utilizing the popular idea of introducing additional variables for some fixed degree of the HPMF; and (b) increasing the degree of the HPMF. It is shown that the conditions obtained with approach (a) are less conservative than some sufficient stability conditions available in the literature to date. It is also shown that as the degree of HPMF increases the conditions obtained under (b) become less conservative. An example is provided to illustrate how the proposed approaches compare with other techniques available in the literature. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society

Poly‐quadratic stability of discrete‐time nonlinear systems in Takagi‐Sugeno's form

AbstractThis paper studies poly‐quadratic stability of nonlinear systems represented by a Takagi‐Sugeno (T‐S) discrete fuzzy model. A system is poly‐quadratically stable when its stability can be verified by a parameter dependent Lyapunov function. There are already some results in this area. This paper, however, presents less conservative results by adopting more slack‐matrix‐variables in the linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The parallel distributed compensation (PDC) law is utilized in both the analysis and the synthesis problems. The effectiveness of the new results in this paper is validated by a simulation example. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society

The effect of modified pluronic on the distribution of fillers in the polyvinyl chloride matrix

AbstractPluronic was modified by using maleic anhydride (MA) and was characterized by means of FTIR and 1H NMR. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was blended with different contents of modified pluronic (MPL). After 20% by weight MPL, no significant change was noticed in either the electrical or the mechanical properties. The addition of 10 wt % MPL to PVC loaded with different contents of titanium oxide (TiO2) and sodium bentonite was chosen to act as a dispersing agent for the two types of fillers. This result was obtained through the measurements of permittivity ε′ and dielectric loss ε″ at the frequency range (102−105 Hz) in addition to the electrical conductivity (σ). According to Arrhenius equation, the activation related to both conductivity Eσ and relaxation time Eτ in addition to the experimental σo were found to confirm the validity of compensation law for the semiconducting PVC system. The increase of ε′ and ε″ by increasing filler content in the presence of 10% MPL in comparison with those before the addition of such concentration of MPL indicates a homogenous distribution of filler in the PVC matrix. This result finds further justification through the mechanical measurements and the scanning electron micrographs. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010

A Comparison of Disabled Veteran and Nonveteran Income

This study evaluates disabled veteran compensation law against its stated objective, equalizing the pay differential associated with disability. The significance of this study is that it provides insight into the efficacy of disabled veteran compensation policy, which derives from tables listed in the Code of Federal Regulations (38 CFR 4). In some cases, these tables have not been updated since 1945. Through regression analysis, personal income (appropriately transformed) is modeled as a function of four variable blocks (demographics, education, geographical, and veteran-related) using secondary data from the 2007 American Community Survey. The population includes working-age adults ages 18 to 64 ( n = 1.8 million, representing N = 190 million U.S. citizens). Regression captured 37.2% of the variance in personal income. Veteran-related variables (entered last into the model) accounted for 2.2% of the unique variance. The sample size guaranteed statistical significance, but the analysis proved practically relevant. Disabled veteran status had a large and negative effect, especially as the number of disabilities increased. The results suggest that disabled veterans who have multiple categories of disabilities do not receive income on par with society or with disabled nonveterans reporting the same number of disabilities. This finding provides evidence that 38 CFR 4 is ineffective.

Development, Dielectric, and Thermal Studies on HAF Carbon-filled Polyester Gradient Composites

In this study, high abrasion furnace carbon having particle size 28—36 nm has been incorporated in unsaturated polyester resin to develop gradient composites. Dielectric measurements have been conducted on the graded composites by using a LCR meter. Effect of temperature and frequency variation on dielectric constant (ε′), dielectric dissipation factor (tan δ) and on a. c. conductivity (σa.c.) of the samples have been determined. Dielectric measurements have been performed in the temperature range from 30°C to 150°C and in the frequency range 1—10 kHz. Dielectric constant increases gradually with the increase of filler content in the direction of centrifugal force, which shows the existence of gradient structure in the composite. This is confirmed based on the microstructures observed at different positions in the graded composites. On increase of frequency, reduction in dielectric constant in carbon-filled polyester composites has been formed. Dielectric constant and a.c. conductivity increased with increase in temperature. ε′ variation with temperature shows a plateau which shifts from 145°C to 125°C on increase of carbon content. Linear dependence of ln σ0 on Ea follows the compensation law for HAF carbon-filled polyester gradient composite, which is similar to semi conducting composite behavior. Tg obtained by DSC plots for samples 1—4 are higher as compared to polyester resin.

Safeguarding the global contingent workforce? Guestworkers in Australia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers' compensation legal entitlements and policy issues raised by the use of foreign temporary workers under the s457 visa scheme in Australia.Design/methodology/approachInterviews were conducted with 15 representatives of unions and employers along with written responses from government agencies and examination of government statistics, court and other documents.FindingsThe study suggests that foreign temporary workers can face significant difficulty in accessing their OHS rights and entitlements. This represents a challenge for government as well as unions and human resource professionals trying to manage workforce diversity.Research limitations/implicationsFurther detailed investigation is required into the extent of problems identified in this paper in Australia and other countries.Practical implicationsThe study indicates that governments making use of guestworkers need to investigate whether these workers have effective access to the protection of OHS and workers' compensation laws and, if not, as indicated by this study, to make suitable policy interventions.Originality/valueThe human resource implications of managing guestworkers have been under‐researched to date despite the global growth in numbers. The paper starts to fill this gap, identifying a number of important policy issues in relation to OHS.

LORD WRIGHT AND INNOVATIVE TRADITIONALISM

This study presents the mid-twentieth-century English lord of appeal, Lord Wright, as an innovative traditionalist judge. Judges have a duty to be creative, Wright believed, but only within the framework of existing legal authority. Wright explained his innovative traditionalist perspective in relation to precedent, public policy, and legislation, and he illustrated his perspective particularly by way of contributions to decisions on worker compensation, commercial contracts, restitution, and international criminal law. He was not always a bold judge, as is especially evident from his contribution to Liversidge v. Anderson. But his efforts to develop the law without undermining established precedents and statutory authority could be subtly effective. In contract and tort decisions, he consistently argued that personal liability should attach only to outcomes that could reasonably have been expected to come about. He was realistic, and believed courts must be realistic, about the tendency of the business world to be guided primarily by its own norms. He incisively criticized implied contract theory and advanced a conception of unjust enrichment that, in England, was considerably ahead of its time. In employment law, he added a twist to freedom-of-contract reasoning, arguing that if it is permissible for individuals to use their economic advantage to impose contractual terms on weaker parties, then it should also be permissible for those parties to combine and gain the upper hand. After World War II, he argued that the positive laws necessary for punishing war criminals already existed. This study draws these arguments together in an effort to capture Wright's judicial style and to show that some of his contributions to legal thought and doctrine run deep and are historically significant.

Improvement in the determination by 1/f noise measurements of the interface state distribution in polysilicon thin film transistors in relation with the compensation law of Meyer Neldel

Low-frequency (1/f) noise is studied in N-channel furnace solid phase crystallized (FSPC) and in laser solid phase crystallized (LSPC) polysilicon thin film transistors (TFTs) biased from weak to strong inversion. Noise analysis is supported by the theory of charge carrier trapping/detrapping at the interface tunneling into gate oxide traps. The distribution of interface trap states (NT) is deduced from the number of carriers trapped into the oxide. Noise measurements for devices biased from weak to moderate inversion allow the determination of the distribution of deep level trap states associated with dangling bond-type defects (NTdb), whereas measurements from moderate to strong inversion give the distribution of shallow level trap states (NTts) associated with strained bond defects. The noise analysis clearly shows that the slope of both exponential distributions equals to the reverse of the Meyer Neldel energy EMN (0.035 and 0.055 eV for FSPC and LSPC TFTs, respectively). For LSPC devices the resulting distribution of interface states (NT=NTdb+NTts) is one decade lower and it is attributed to the effects of the laser annealing on the active layer crystal quality.

Fuzzy logic Controller Design for gun-turret system

High precision control is desirable for future weapon systems. In this paper, several control design methodologies are applied to a weapon system to assess the applicability of each control design method and to characterize the achievable performance of the gun-turret system in precision control. The design objective of the gun-turret control system is to achieve a rapid and precise tracking response with respect to the turret motor command from the fire control system under the influences of disturbances, nonlinearities, and modeling uncertainties. A fuzzy scheme is proposed for control of multi-body, multi-input and multioutput nonlinear systems with joints represented by a gun turret-barrel model which consists of two subsystems: two motors driving two loads (turret and barrel) coupled by nonlinear dynamics. Fuzzy control schemes are employed for compensation and nonlinear feedback control laws are used for control of nonlinear dynamics. Fuzzy logic control (FLC) provides an effective means of capturing the approximate, inexact nature of the real world, and to address unexpected parameter variations and anomalies. Viewed in this perspective, the essential part of the FLC is a set of linguistic control rules related by the dual concepts of fuzzy implication and the compositional rule of inference. In essence, the FLC provides an algorithm which can convert the linguistic control strategy based on expert knowledge into an automatic control strategy. Accordingly, the design must be robust, adaptive, and, hopefully, intelligent in order to accommodate these uncertainties. Simulation results verify the desired system tracking performance.

Reflections on public–private partnerships in Egypt: practical and legal challenges

This article addresses an increasingly important topic in the field of law and finance, namely public–private partnerships (PPPs). The article examines the practical and legal challenges facing PPPs within the Egyptian market and scrupulously analyses such challenges in light of the current prevailing global trends and standards of project financing. Amongst the challenges scrutinised are: procedural issues, project permits, regulatory framework, bankability and risk allocation, availability payments and termination compensation, direct agreements, and applicable law and dispute resolution. The article provides a lucid and cogent understanding of the PPP market in Egypt, from both legal and practical perspectives, in light of the contemporary investment climate.

Workers compensation and occupational health and safety in the Australian agricultural industry

The objective of this paper is to review the available workers compensation and occupational health and safety data and the legal framework in relation to the agricultural industry to explore whether any factors highlight the need to pay special attention to the particular circumstances of those engaged in the industry. This paper explores some of the special features of the agricultural industry, looking first at agricultural worker fatalities and injuries as a matter of ongoing concern for all participants in this industry, government, as well as occupational health and workers compensation authorities. The paper analyses how occupational health and workers compensation laws may have special application to this industry. Finally, the paper considers some workers compensation provisions that have particular application to the agricultural industry. Our survey of the available data and literature leads to the conclusion that the dangerous nature of agricultural work and the special legal and economic framework in which that work is undertaken identify the agricultural industry as presenting Australian Governments and specialist authorities with particular challenges in relation to improving workplace safety and reducing workplace injury.

A Study on the Appraisal Provisions of the Land by the Existing Compensation Law

A Study on the Appraisal Provisions of the Land by the Existing Compensation Law

Lord Wright and Innovative Traditionalism

This study presents the mid-twentieth century English lord of appeal, Lord Wright, as an innovative traditionalist judge. Judges have a duty to be creative, Wright believed, but only within the framework of existing legal authority. Wright explained his innovative traditionalist perspective in relation to precedent, public policy and legislation, and he illustrated his perspective particularly by way of contributions to decisions on worker compensation, commercial contracts, restitution and international criminal law. He was not always a bold judge, as is especially evident from his contribution to Liversidge v. Anderson. But his efforts to develop the law without undermining established precedents and statutory authority could be subtly effective. In contract and tort decisions he consistently argued that personal liability should attach only to outcomes which could reasonably have been expected to come about. He was realistic, and believed courts must be realistic, about the tendency of the business world to be guided primarily by its own norms. He incisively criticized implied contract theory and advanced a conception of unjust enrichment which, in England, was considerably ahead of its time. In employment law, he added a twist to freedom-of-contract reasoning, arguing that if it is permissible for individuals to use their economic advantage to impose contractual terms on weaker parties then it should also be permissible for those parties to combine and gain the upper hand. After World War II, he argued that the positive laws necessary for punishing war criminals already existed. This study draws these arguments together in an effort to capture Wright’s judicial style and to show that some of his contributions to legal thought and doctrine run deep and are historically significant.

State value compensation of controller for constrained systems

AbstractState value compensation of dynamic controllers for constrained linear systems is discussed. The relation between changes in a partial state and the resulting responses is characterized by introducing a singular value decomposition (SVD). By employing the SVD, a partial state compensation law which satisfies the system constraints is derived. The advantage of the proposed method is illustrated with numerical examples. The obtained result is also applied to an inverted pendulum system for experimental evaluation. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 91(11): 1–10, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10036

Unsafe Workplaces, Injured Employees, and the Bizarre Bifurcation of Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act

A particularly pernicious constriction of the scope of protection available under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act has occurred with respect to injured employees. Employees who complain about workplace safety and health issues are within the ambit of Section 7, protected against employer retaliation for having complained. Meanwhile, however, employees injured by those same workplace safety and health hazards, and who consequently exercise their state workers compensation law statutory rights to claim workers compensation monetary and medical care benefits, are not protected by Section 7. If the employer retaliates against the injured employee for claiming state workers compensation benefits, the employee's protections against such retaliation are under state workers compensation law, but not under the federal National Labor Relations Act. This undue constriction of Section 7's umbrella has fractured the practical and jurisprudential coherence of Section 7. Furthermore, this bizarre bifurcation has spawned atomistic progeny wholly antithetical to the spirit and purpose of Section 7. Perhaps most egregiously, the National Labor Relations Board now considers employees filing individual sexual harassment complaints with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to have acted individually, and thus not within Section 7's concerted, protected activities. This essay will critically analyze the genesis and evolution (mutation) of this bizarre bifurcation of Section 7 in this context, and will propose avenues for rectification.