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Another Round of Workers’ Comp Reforms in House Labor
Another wave of workers’ compensation bills is slated to be heard by the House Labor Committee when it meets Thursday. Last week, the Committee’s Senate counterpart OK’d multiple LABI-supported measures to address the high costs and inefficiencies within Louisiana’s WC system. Need that recap? Click here.
Let’s start with HB 780 by Rep. Gabe Firment (R-Pollock), which does two things of interest to the business community. First, it consolidates two current standards for punitive attorney fees, raising the bar for lawyers to receive such awards in workers’ compensation courts, aiming to reduce the target on the backs of Louisiana’s job creators.
Second, it updates current law to remove technical obstacles trial attorneys rely on to avoid preliminary determination hearings. These hearings are intended to provide faster dispute resolution and give businesses that comply with those decisions “safe harbor” protection from excessive penalties and attorney fees. Rep. Firment’s bill makes the process work the way it was intended, providing faster dispute resolution—helping injured workers receive decisions and benefits faster—and reducing litigation costs in Louisiana’s comp system.
LABI believes HB 780 is a common-sense approach to achieving faster dispute resolution for workers and lower litigation costs for employers.
HB 537 by Chairman Raymond Crews (R-Bossier City) is the House’s version of a bill that LABI testified in support of last week in Senate Labor. This measure repeals the dormant Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council. The WCAC, first created in the 1980s, is an obsolete body that has not met for several years after being active during the Blanco and Jindal administrations. Its influence eroded under Gov. John Bel Edwards due to a membership largely composed of trial lawyers and labor representatives. Maintaining this inactive and ineffective council is a waste of government resources.
LABI’s Patrick Robinson, who oversees our Employee Relations Issue Council, testified in support of the Senate version—SB 382 by Sen. Alan Seabaugh (R-Many)—informing the Committee that in discussions with the current administration, he’s learned the Council is still not being utilized and has not had members appointed to it.
This week’s House Labor meeting also features a bill LABI is opposing—HB 421 by Rep. Vincent Cox (R-Gretna). This legislation enacts the “Automated Decision Systems and Employment” Act, requiring employers who use an automated decision system for employment decisions to provide notice. LABI does not oppose the transparency portion of this bill, but strongly opposes the private cause of action, including punitive damages in the proposal. Louisiana business owners should be allowed to use their own discretion in how they make decisions, without unnecessary interference from government.