Ohio senator says no to workers comp for illegals

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: AP

A Republican state senator in Ohio wants to prohibit the nation's largest state-run injured worker insurance program from providing benefits to illegal immigrants, a change he said should lower business premiums.

State Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati said he was shocked to learn during a recent committee meeting that the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation doesn't require injured workers to document their status before providing benefits. Ohio law enables "aliens and minors" to receive workers compensation benefits.

The law does not draw a distinction between "legal" and "illegal" aliens.

"We are going to provide a mechanism for those claims to be investigated and if the people turn out to be unauthorized there will be no coverage," said Seitz, who is drafting a bill he plans to soon introduce in the Republican-controlled Senate. "We will try to wring costs out of the system."



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5id0_vEq0I1BkSNyRQqMWvuFfMbHAD9C5TOUG0

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Another republican fighting for the American worker and the middle class putting the burden on the weak and poor.

[Taverner]

1. Shit, maybe they really DO want to poke at immigrants with sticks!

It was only an analogy people!

[kestrel91316]

2. And not a word about prosecuting the businesses who hired the

illegal immigrants in the first place, which placed them at an unfair competitive advantage, in violation of federal law.........

[liberal N proud]

4. Hush, Christmas is coming

The Senator doesn't want to disturb his chance of receiving gifts.

[cstanleytech]

17. True they do need to go after the businesses as well.

[GOPNotForMe]

3. NICE headline, AP.

EYEROLL.

[AlphaCentauri]

10. Soon you'll see how it makes sense to DU "progressives and liberals"

who love the re pugs for their stance on labor rights

[WriteDown]

5. Not a bad idea....

but it MUST BE then coupled with a thorough investigation of the hiring company to make sure they weren't knowingly hiring illegals. If they were, then STEEP fines.

[safeinOhio]

6. want to lower business premiums.

That is so easy a cave man can do it. End the workman comp. Let any worker, injured on the job, have his day in court. Those laws are to protect companies, not workers.

[Cirque du So-What]

8. A problem with that proposal

Sure, workers' comp lawyers would fall over themselves for the high-profile, potentially enriching cases, but what about the minor cases that wouldn't net them much more than their expenses? Poorer workers would be forced to hunt for the most mercenary of attorneys who possibly wouldn't take their cases without some up-front money. Employees who think it's too much of a hassle to sue for workers' comp is a corporation's wet dream!

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

7. I don't disagree with the change one bit.

I do however feel that if an illegal is hurt on the job and reports it, the company should pay a stiff fine for the hiring of illegal labor and workers comp payments should come directly OUT OF POCKET from the company (no insurance) to covering the worker's injuries, compensation, and medical bills. This way illegals now have a safty net and companies have a heightened responsibility if they feel like employing illegal labor.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. It all depends...

If the company is not paying payroll taxes (i.e., isn't paying into the worker's comp system) for an employee, then the employee shouldn't be eligible for Workman's Compensation. If the employer is making payments (because the worker is using a false ID), then the payments should be made.

Now one could argue that the worker should also be departed, if for no other reason than for being stupid enough to file a Workman's Comp claim while in the country illegally, but that's another matter.

[marshall]

12. They may be paying payroll taxes on a falsified social security number

So it's either going into somebody else's account if it's a stolen number, or it's just going down a rabbit hole if the number is totally fictitious.

Which doesn't necessarily have to apply to illegals (though it probably does in most cases). There are undoubtedly many people across the country who are using an identity other than their own to get a job, for any number of reasons.

[EFerrari]

13. That's how Andy wound up with no insurance.

His employer didn't make her payments.

[TygrBright]

11. How Christian of him. (that's SARCASM (sigh. I wish that disclaimer weren't necessary)) n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

14. they'll show up at the emergency room and private insurance premiums will go up to cover it

either way, are you going to turn your back on someone who is injured at the time they are injured?

not going to happen - they should simply bill the company that employed them for the medical costs as they were getting the benefit of their work and low cost wage

[ArcticFox]

15. Does that mean illegal workers won't be precluded from suing?

Here in California at least, if an employer has worker's comp insurance, the employee can't sue. I always thought that was for the benefit of the employers. Now it seems they want to waive that benefit? Of course, a wrongful death award is based in large part on the employee's expected future wages, and undocumented workers don't have much expectation of future wages.

Other questions are raised as well: (1) Do undocumented workers really get injured more often, or more seriously than documented workers in the same positions, such that their being covered really raises premiums? (2) (If the answer is "yes," and I doubt it could possibly be "yes") If employers want to reduce their premiums, why don't they just stop hiring undocumented workers?

I suspect that premiums would go down only because employers would hire undocumented workers for the most dangerous positions. The undocumented workers would thereby become expendible. I can hear it now: "Fire in the engine room? Throw in 20 illegals! Nobody cares about them, and they're 70% water, you know.

When their families sue for wrongful death, the employer will argue that, being "illegal," they had no right to work in this country and, therefore no expectation of future wages. In short, their lives will be proven to have been worthless.

This does tie in to some extent with another post on DU: <http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... >

[PSPS]

16. Why not? "Illegals" pay into the system like everyone else.

[Lance_Boyle]

18. Dishonest amnesty proponents like FireDogLake and lots of DUers also deliberately

conflate "immigrants" and "illegal aliens."

"The law does not draw a distinction between 'legal' and 'illegal' aliens."

At least with the state law in question it was not a deliberate attempt to mislead.

[Javaman]

19. The American Caste System. nt

[David__77]

20. So they want a literal slave labor force.

No burden on the employer to ensure that their workers have documentation; in fact, this would incentivize hiring undocumented workers.

[AlphaCentauri]

21. Five stars to your post

totally agree.