Kansas: the worst place in America to get injured on the job | Commentary

The need for a “no-fault” system to compensate injured workers was first recognized in Germany in 1884 and the rest of Europe fell in line quickly.

“Workmen’s Compensation,” as it was originally called — hearkening back to misogynistic times — did not gain momentum in the U.S. until 10 states adopted work comp laws in 1911.

Kansas and Washington became the first two states to put laws on the books, and both on the same day: March 14, 1911.

But over the past 112 years, our powerful pro-business lobby has jettisoned Kansas from the forefront of the work comp movement to the caboose.

Here in Wichita, our Real GDP remains on the upswing as compensation to our injured workers plummets — a perverse dichotomy that needs fixing yesterday.

Our workers have been abandoned by the system in favor of the kind of pro-business rhetoric that keeps campaign accounts flush.

Kansas is now one of only a few states that caps benefits to permanently and totally disabled workers.

The current cap is $155,000 for the remainder of the worker’s life — regardless of age, number of dependents or severity of the injury.

Worker’s comp remains the only remedy an injured worker or his or her family have against their employer under Kansas’ “exclusive remedy” laws.

The worker’s employer cannot even be sued in cases of gross negligence: If a large business skirts safety in favor of profits and the worker is left paralyzed or dead because of those decisions, there is no recourse outside the work comp system.

Imagine a 30-year-old, permanently disabled worker trying to support young children with a grand total of $155,000 in lifetime compensation.

This $155,000 cap has been in place since 2011 and has not been increased to account for inflation.

While most states’ laws require the payment of lifetime benefits to permanently and totally disabled workers, Kansas lawmakers have elected to stick with the $155,000 cap — now the lowest in the nation.

Kansas officials often speak of the need to incentivize businesses if we want them to operate in Kansas, but our laws now disincentivize workers in difficult, physical jobs from showing up to work in the morning.

Who will care for their family when they’re hurt and out of work?

The Social Security offset is another major problem.

Social Security is paid to retired workers after they have paid into the system during their working years.

Based on our aging population and the increased costs of living, our federal government passed the “Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act of 2000,” allowing citizens of full retirement age to take a job without reducing their Social Security benefits.

But Kansans on Social Security do not receive the full benefit of the federal law.

If a working senior who collects Social Security is injured on the job, our current state law allows the employer and its insurer to deduct the amount the injured worker receives for Social Security from any temporary benefits received under the work comp system.

Work comp laws typically require the employer and its insurer to pay two-thirds of the worker’s current wages if the worker is injured and temporarily unable to work.

But in Kansas, those benefits are reduced or totally eliminated based on the amount of Social Security payments received.

Most Kansas seniors are not working just for the fun of it: They need these wages to survive. Failing to pay them only adds insult to work injury.

A pro-business climate is great, but businesses are nothing without their employees.

Contact your elected officials and urge them to start taking care of our workers by eliminating the cap on permanent disability and eliminating the Social Security offset immediately.

Blake A. Shuart is a Wichita attorney and a member of The Eagle Editorial Advisory Board.