by DC Jobs with Justice | Nov 9, 2012 | Campaigns, Injured Worker Advocate
____________________________ Councilmember Michael A. Brown A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Councilmember ____________________________ introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on ____________________________. To amend the District of Columbia’s Public Sector Workers’ Compensation Program to repeal the prohibition of claims for mental stress or emotional conditions or diseases; establish that treating physicians have preference over other opinions absent compelling reasons to the contrary; provide that a claimant who begins to receive compensation will continue to do so until an administrative law judge upholds a determination to suspend, reduce, or terminate compensation; require the availability of disability compensation subject to annual review of a claimants status by an administrative law judge if an injury lasts longer than 500 weeks without being reclassified as permanent; and clarify the applicability of the additional award owed to claimants when Office of Administrative Hearings orders are not followed within 30 days. BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the “Protecting Injured Government Workers Act of 2012.” Sec. 2. Title XXIII of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, Public Sector Workers’ Compensation, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code §§ 1-623.01 et seq.), is amended as follows: (a) Section 2302(b) and (c) (D.C. Official Code § 1-623.02(b) and (c)) are repealed. (b) Section 2323(a-2)(4) (D.C. Official Code § 1-623.23(a-2)(4)) is amended by inserting the phrase “In all medical opinions used under this section, the diagnosis or medical opinion of the employee’s treating physician shall be accorded great weight over...
by DC Jobs with Justice | Nov 9, 2012 | Campaigns, Injured Worker Advocate
Over 2,000 injured D.C. government employees go through the Public Sector Workers Compensation Program each year. These benefits are intended to give injured government workers financial security when injured on the job and help them pay for their medical care, rent and other basic necessities. Unfortunately, due to a decade of poor administration and noncompliance, formerly middle-class injured workers have been driven into poverty. Instead of protecting injured D.C. employees, we have allowed thousands of District residents to fall into poverty as a result of their workplace injuries. In 2004 and 2006, the D.C. Council passed legislation to reduce the time for resolving injured workers’ eligibility, to create penalties for late payments to injured workers, and to codify the preference for an injured worker’s treating physician’s opinion when determining work eligibility over that of a government-designated doctor who had very limited information regarding the claimant’s health condition. These reforms were designed to ensure that injured D.C. employees would not languish without any income while they were unable to do work. Unfortunately, the FY 2011 budget reversed some of these legislative victories. The Council granted government appointed doctors with limited knowledge of a client’s health condition greater weight in determining work eligibility, reducing the role of treating physicians. The Council also repealed protections for workers that suffered mental trauma, allowed workers to be lose their benefits even before an Administrative Law Judge has the opportunity to evaluate their side of the story, and capped benefits for injuries that ORM classifies as “temporary” even though they continue for more than 500 weeks. These repeals endangered injured workers’ right to fairly access...
