Some professions and workplaces are inherently more dangerous than others. A construction site is one of those places. Large motorized equipment, heavy tools, working from heights and other dangerous conditions exist even when a contractor is following the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)?guidelines and other rules.
Workers' compensation is one of those sets of rules and regulations created so that those who are injured on construction job sites or any other workplace, are fairly compensated for their medical expenses, rehabilitation if necessary and lost wages.
However, according to a recent news article, several Orange County construction site general contractors were caught not playing by the rules in several ways -- one of which was not paying workers' compensation claims.
The workers' compensation violations were discovered as part of a sweep that looked at underground contracting. The government agencies making up the California Joint Enforcement Task Force includes the state license board, the Department of Insurance, the Employment Development Department and district attorneys from several counties.
They made a number of discoveries in a two day sweep which covered 11 counties including Orange, Los Angeles, Monterey, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Clara and Yolo among others. A total of 104 violations were found ranging from misdemeanor to felony level.
The task force's discoveries on construction sites included:
- Contracting without a license
- Contracting after a stop order
- Contacting without workers' compensation insurance
- Under -reporting the number of workers
- Paying workers with cash to hide employment
- Keeping double sets of books
As with many other areas of laws and regulations, it works better when everyone is playing by the same set of rules. In this case, contractors who violate workers' compensation laws and other rules, gain an unfair advantage over those who follow the legal guidelines.
Source: MercuryNews.com, "Some Monterey County construction sites caught in sweep on "underground" contracting," Julia Reynolds, July 10, 2012
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