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Bah Humbug to L&I |
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Written On: December 7, 2001 |
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Over the years I’ve heard unusual complaints about bureaucratic interpretations of state laws, but this one takes the cake.
Washington State’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has apparently decided that sitting around doing nothing is better than helping charities.
L&I administers our state’s workers’ compensation program. Under workers’ comp, employers pay for insurance that provides medical care and financial support when workers are injured on the job.
Sometimes, recovering workers temporarily take less demanding “light duty” jobs until they can return to their regular work. In fact, research shows that the sooner an injured worker returns to work—even in a light-duty job —the sooner they recover. Conversely, the longer someone on workers’ comp stays off the job, the less likely they will return to work…ever.
In the case of Glacier Northwest, a concrete and aggregate company based in Seattle, light-duty jobs are scarce. So Glacier placed its recovering workers on light-duty jobs at local food banks. Glacier paid their wages and benefits and assumed the risk.
It was a classic “win-win.” The food banks got much needed help, recovering workers got more money than they would have received under workers’ comp, and Glacier increased the chances its workers would return to the job sooner.
That is, until L&I stepped in and put a stop to everything. L&I ruled that Glacier’s light-duty jobs must be performed at the company’s work sites, even though Glacier has no light-duty jobs. In effect, L&I decided it was better for recovering workers to sit home and do nothing rather than help out the poor and the homeless.
They say it’s the law. Our attorneys looked at the law, too. They say the law is vague and can be interpreted differently.
I don’t get it. Why would a bureaucrat insist that light-duty jobs be on a site where no such jobs exist? And why would L&I rule that a company like Glacier can’t help food banks by paying to have light-duty jobs for recovering workers?
L&I’s ruling just doesn’t make sense. The only thing I can say is, “Bah Humbug!”
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