Kansas reforms workers’ comp law
Kansas, one of nine states to first adopt workers’ compensation laws in 1911, has reformed its law to better protect businesses from false claims. The new law revises portions of the Kansas Workers’ Compensation Act and is the first significant reform to workers’ compensation laws in the state since 1993.
The new law, HB 2134, seeks to discourage unwarranted claims by raising the threshold required for an incident to be compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act. It overturns numerous court decisions that lawmakers believed eroded the intent of the workers’ compensation system, gives employers a credit for pre-existing conditions, requires them to pay only for what happens under their watch, and allows them to provide names of two alternative doctors instead of three. The law also increases benefit caps for injured workers who have lost the capacity to work.
“This new law helps ensure certainty of benefits for legitimately injured workers while also offering protection from litigation for employers. It provides cost-certainty for employers, allowing them to invest in job creation,” Gov. Sam Brownback said when signing the bill.
Leaders from business and labor groups worked nearly a year to reach an agreement on the reform, which won unanimous passage in the legislature. “This bill represents a well thought out compromise between business and labor [that] includes elements to improve work comp situations for both the worker and the employer,” Kansas Labor Secretary Karin Brownlee said in a statement. “This is one more positive step in making Kansas a great place to do business.”
Read the entire release on the new workers’ comp law.