Disability Compensation Benefits for Injured Workers
Disability Compensation Benefits for Injured Workers
Workers’ compensation benefits are paid to a worker who has a job-related injury or illness. These benefits may be paid by federal or state workers’ compensation agencies, employers or by insurance companies on behalf of employers.
Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits, do not affect one’s social security disability benefits.
But workers’ compensation and other public disability benefits may reduce your social security benefits. Other public disability payments that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related.
Some of these are civil service disability benefits, military disability benefits, state temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits that are all based on disability.
Some public benefits do not affect or reduce your social security disability benefits.
They are:
• Veterans Administration benefits
• State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from your earnings
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
On the other hand, injured workers are also entitled to certain benefits under the workers’ compensation law. Here are the types of workers disability compensation:
• Temporary Total Disability – This benefit is payable when the injured worker is unable to work during a period when he/she is under active medical care and has not yet reached what is called “maximum medical improvement”.
In most states, compensation is paid at two-thirds of the employee’s average weekly wage, not to exceed statutory weekly maximums above which no worker is entitled to compensation. It is common worker’s temporary total disability weekly benefit to be capped by these statutory compensation limits.
• Temporary Partial Disability – A worker may be eligible for temporary partial disability compensation when he or she is able to do some work but is still recuperating from the effects of the injury, and is, thus, temporarily limited in the amount or type of work which can be performed compared to the pre-injury work.
• Permanent Partial Disability – Compensation is awarded for certain types of permanent conditions which do not cause the worker to be totally unable to work.
• Permanent Total Disability – In order to receive this type of compensation, the employee must prove that he is unable to return to work in any capacity, and that this is a permanent problem.
On the other hand, there are rulings in many states to the effect that a worker, who can perform only occasional, sporadic or undependable work, may still be deemed to be permanently totally disabled. Frequently, states’ workers compensation law permits lawyers to offer evidence of a workers age, education, training and experience in seeking to prove that the worker is incapable of substantial gainful employment.
• Disfigurement/Mutilation – A states’ workers compensation law may permit the employee to be compensated for disfigurement or scarring, frequently in the absence of any actual impairment, and sometimes in addition to actual impairment.
Disabled workers and employees are entitled to a number of benefits under the law. To know more information about how these benefits may be applicable to you as a disabled employee, you need to consult a disability compensation lawyer who is knowledgeable with these issues.
Log on to our disability compensation lawyers’ website. Our professional lawyers and legal staff are capable of providing expert assistance in your Social Security Disability problems.
Article from articlesbase.com
Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: Benefits, Compensation, Disability, Injured, Workers
Study of disability benefit provisions applicable to New York State retirement systems
Study of disability benefit provisions applicable to New York State retirement systems
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Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: applicable, Benefit, Disability, provisions, Retirement, state, Study, Systems, York
Employee Survey Researcher’s Toolkit
Employee Survey Researcher’s Toolkit
Comprehensive guide to conducting an employee survey in house, with all the guidance and resources you need to create a questionnaire, run the survey, analyse and benchmark the results and take action to improve employee satisfaction and profit.
Employee Survey Researcher’s Toolkit
Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: Employee, Researcher's, Survey, Toolkit
Social Security Administrative Costs: a Receipe for Collapse of Sierra Leone?s Pension Program
Social Security Administrative Costs: a Receipe for Collapse of Sierra Leone?s Pension Program
OVERVIEW:
As the nation awaits the second actuarial evaluation of the National Social Security & Insurance Trust (NASSIT), a thorough analysis and understanding of the initial actuarial valuation report conducted by Canadian based actuarial firm Regie Des Rentes Du Quebec (RRQ) for the period ending December 31, 2004, is instructive in assessing the performance and future viability of the nation’s pension scheme.
Pursuant to Article 47 of the National Social Security & Insurance Trust Act, 2001 an actuarial evaluation of the pension scheme is by law required every 3 years during the first ten years of the pension scheme and once every five years thereafter. The scheme was initially implemented in 2002 with the first actuarial valuation performed in 2004. The second statutory valuation should therefore be conducted by 2007/2008 and an actuarial report issued soon thereafter.
The 2004 RRQ actuarial studies report while acknowledging the general good financial condition of the scheme, as expected of start-up schemes without pension payment liabilities, however highlighted areas of concern and deficiencies that both Sierra Leonean policymakers and pension participants must be made aware of and requisite steps taken to address in order to forestall the Trust’s failure and potential bankruptcy.
Aside from the need for growth in the insured population and the need for more scheme experience data, the actuarial report paid especial focus on the exorbitant administrative expenses and costs and the management of investments, as areas of concern requiring corrective measures.
ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS
An analysis of the pension scheme’s administrative costs, according to the actuarial report, reveals that NASSIT’s “administrative expenses compared to insurable earnings were higher than the level expected in the inception report ”.
It is worth noting that at inception of the scheme an industry best practice expenditure for administrative costs was pegged at 1% of insured earnings as recommended by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
However, since 2002 when administrative costs were at 1,691 billion Leones, the administrative costs have progressively increased to 3,250 billion Leones in 2003 and to a whopping 6,407 billion Leones in 2004. As noted in the RRQ actuarial report, the 2004 costs exceeded the ILO recommended 1% for the scheme’s administrative costs by a proportion of 230%.
In the recently published annual report for 2006, NASSIT reported general administrative expenses at 15.3 billion Leones while the Trust’s payments in pensions amounted to a paltry 1.9 billion Leones. The 15.3 billion Leones in administrative costs represented an increase from 14.4 billion Leones in the previous 2005 fiscal year. Thus as of the year 2005, administrative costs represented 5 percent of the insurable earnings of the scheme. Such a ratio glaringly is economically untenable as even when compared with other African countries 1.5% for administrative costs, the trajectory of NASSIT’s administrative costs remains one of the highest in the world.
The amoebic growth in the Trust’s administrative costs has continued to balloon as figures for the year ended 2007, revealed that the stratospheric sum of 22.1 billion Leones was expended as administrative costs and expenses.
While acknowledging that nascent pension schemes generally have higher administrative costs at beginning than matured schemes, and factoring that the “initial seed money of 4.5 billion Leones provided by the government for setting up of the Scheme was fully refunded by the end of the third year”, the continued growth in administrative costs with no apparent oversight or checks and balances by the Trustees / Board of Directors reflects a lack of good governance controls and potential inefficiencies that must be addressed and corrected.
For should this trend continue, the Trust will be rendered bankrupt and the country, the statutory guarantor of the pensions will be saddled with unfunded pensions by the time the equilibrium period ends and pension liabilities are at their peek. As fiduciaries, the board members must be seen as exercising their fiduciary duties on behalf of the pension scheme’s participants- the workers of Sierra Leone.
STAFF COSTS
Staff costs represent a large percentage of the administrative costs and were estimated to consume more than 55% of total expenditures of the pension scheme. For example, payroll costs increased from 5.1 billion Leones to 8.2 billion Leones from 2005 to 2006. As at the period ending December 2006, the scheme employed 227 employees representing a net employee increase of 6 from the prior year. In 2005 the scheme reported a total of 221 employees on its payroll. The 6 new employees the scheme employed in 2006 in addition to whatever cost of living increases in salary paid the existing employees could most certainly not explain the exorbitant increase in the wage bill of the scheme.
As of the second quarter of 2008, the Trust reportedly has a total of 275 employees, an increase in its employee rolls from 227 in 2006.
Moreover, in addition to staff costs, the remuneration of key management personnel salaries and allowances substantially increased from 1.6 billion to 2.2 billion Leones from 2005 to 2006.
According to the NASSIT staff matrix, the scheme has 8 executives and 13 senior management positions. If “key management” refers to only these positions, it thus represents 21 personnel who over a one year period received as salaries and remuneration an additional humongous sum of 2.2 billion Leones from the Sierra Leone workers pension fund.
GENERAL COST
Aside from staff costs as reviewed above, the amorphous category of “General Costs” represents about 30 percent of the scheme’s expenditures. Whilst initially at 543 million Leones in 2002, general costs expenditure had ballooned to 963 million Leones in 2003 and to an exorbitant 2.1 billion Leones in 2004.
It should be noted that while administrative costs by the year 2004 represented 95.4 percent of total benefit expenditures and 24.0 percent of contribution income of the entire pension scheme, the continued fiscal viability of the pension scheme is greatly at stake as an inordinate amount of contributions of workers hard earned wages seem to be spent on the scheme’s management and staff expenses.
ANALYSIS OF INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
Since a major source of financing for the Trust is investment income, which derived from the right investment mix and returns determines and ensures the scheme participants level of pension benefits, this article will not be complete without an analysis of the NASSIT’s current investment strategy.
The scheme’s investment strategy policy has been adjudged in the actuarial report as economically and actuarially well designed. The devil however is in the implementation of this well designed policy. Especially as relates to stocks in companies, the absence of an adequate financial infrastructure where shares and stocks can easily be traded to free up cash flow exposes the Trust to additional investment risks.
Despite this shortcoming in the country‘s financial environment, the Scheme has poured over 39 billion Leones into equity investments, even though the country does not have a functional stock exchange.
A review and analysis of the types of businesses and ventures the Scheme’s equity investment has been directed into causes risk concerns for achievement of the expressed strategic objectives of the investments portfolio and for the continued viability of the scheme.
The Scheme in 2006 increased its equity asset mix from 11.4% in 2005 to 20% in 2006. This category represented, aside from Treasury Bills, the largest percentage investment by the Scheme.
LONG TERM INVESTMENTS
As of 2006, the Scheme’s long term investment portfolio totaled 39.6 billion Leones, comprised of equity investments in the following:
1) Debentures in SierraBlocks of 8.2 billion Leons.
2) Equity investment in SierraBlocks of 7.1 billion Leones.
3) Equity investment in Barock Investment of 7,268,000
4) Equity in Regimanual Gray SL Limited of 6,000,000.
5) Equity in Gouji Property Investment of 9,129,992.
6) Equity investment in Eco Bank of 3,033,917 Leones.
7) Equity investment in Kimbima Hotel of 5,296,414.
Equity investment in Sierra Leone Brewery of 7,005.
The scheme’s investment liability exposure in the cement block making company, SierraBlocks represents a 60% ownership shares with a concomitant 60% of liability. Such exposure of the scheme’s capital and considering the high costs of the homes Regimanuel Gray is selling in Goodrich must serve as a warning signal that returns from this venture are likely to fail to conform to minimization of costs and risks associated with investments-a core objective of the scheme‘s investment policy.
The scheme’s experience with the Gouji Property Investment when it prematurely recalled its equity investment and reportedly only received a portion of the Trust’s initial capital investment is highly instructive.
Currently, contribution accumulation represents the main source of asset increase in the scheme’s portfolio. Since the scheme is young and growing this trend will continue. However, the laws of diminishing returns will very soon set in and contributions not only will remain stagnant but will inevitably regress resulting in an adverse impact on the scheme’s investment mix.
CONTRIBUTION DELIQUENCIES
As a mandatory pension scheme all employers and employees are required to contribute into the Trust. However, an alarming trend witnessed over the past five years of the Trust’s existence shows that government departments and parastatals are the greatest delinquents with mounting arrears of contributions owed to the Trust on behalf of their workers. For example, as recorded in the Trust’s 2006 annual report, total contribution delinquency increased from 9.1 billion Leones in 2004 to 12.9 billion Leones in 2006. This amount subsequently increased to 16.2 billion Leones in 2007 and as of the second quarter of 2008, the contribution arrears stood at 19.4 billion Leones.
The main reason adduced for this delinquency is the non-compliance by government ministries, departments and parastatals whose contribution arrears rose from 2.1 billion Leones in 2004 to 5.5 billion Leones in 2006. The trend of non-compliance by parastatals especially continues unabated as recent statistics for the second quarter shows that their non-compliance is currently at 10 billion Leones.
With all the statutory instruments at its disposal, the Trust must be aggressive in ensuring outstanding contributions are immediately recouped. A reduction and elimination of the arrears must be a benchmark in assessing management’s productivity and efficiency. The Sierra Leone landscape is dotted with government services institutions and companies that have failed by their inability to ensure user-service payments are timely collected for services, be it insurance, electricity, water supply and other public services. At this rate and trending, NASSIT is setting itself up for the same demise.
PROPOSAL FOR EXPANSION OF THE INSURED POPULATION
The participation of Sierra Leone’s diasporas in the country’s pension scheme, the NASSIT, represents one such creative and out of the box thinking that management and the government must urgently explore.
Diaspora participation in NASSIT could be achieved by a system of purchase of credits in foreign currencies, into the pension scheme, modeled on the concept of “Diaspora Bonds”; where countries raise financing from their overseas diasporas through a debt instrument .
However, unlike a debt instrument, the sale of credits into the NASSIT pension scheme allows diasporas to participate in the nation’s social security system with benefits inuring to both the diaspora participant and the NASSIT. In the case of the diasporas it ensures:
Patriotism, as participation affords continued connection to the home country.
Satisfaction of contributing to and participating in the home country’s national economic growth.
Protection as a risk management tool, as the survivor’s benefit component of the pension scheme will afford benefits to beneficiaries in the home country, in the event of the death or disability of the diaspora participant.
In the case of the country and NASSIT, it provides:
Extension of the covered population, providing additional private sector capacity, which the scheme desperately needs to meet actuarial projections.
Access to foreign capital remittances, as contributions would be made in foreign currencies.
Risk diversification, as the foreign capital infused into the scheme could be invested in foreign investments and international bonds, stocks and indexes.
Needed capital for developmental programs such as the current NASSIT low cost housing project.
CONCLUSION:
The establishment of the pension scheme in Sierra Leone represents a singular achievement in public policy implementation over the past 30 years and if properly executed and managed long-term will serve generations of workers and contribute positively to economic and social development of the country. It is thus in accord with the tremendous expectations for success of the scheme that the above critique and suggestions for curtailing the run away administrative costs of the Trust are been proffered not only to management but especially the Board of Directors.
The author, Mr. Kortor Kamara has over 25 years experience in the insurance industry both in Sierra Leone and the United States. He is a Chartered Property & Casualty Insurer and holds the Workers Compensation Claims Professional (WCCP) designation. He is a Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute ( London); Certified Self-Insurance Claims Administrator-State of California; Registered World Bank Consultant and has served as a Consultant on various Insurance initiatives in Sierra Leone, including design of the country’s first Title Insurance Policy.
In addition, Mr. Kamara is a graduate of Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, 1978-1981; studied Law at both the Univerisity of West Los Angeles School of Law and the California Southern School of Law in Riverside. He is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Insurance and Risk Management.
Through association with Saddleback Re, were he serves as the Regional Manager, Africa Division, Mr. Kamara is intimately involved in the provision of reinsurance coverage, policy design, loss control, training and risk management services to the African Insurance marketplace. Mr. Kamara can be contacted via e-mail at: Kortorkamara@yahoo.com.
www.saddlebackre.com.
Article from articlesbase.com
Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: Administrative, Collapse, Costs, Leones, Pension, Program, Receipe, Security, Sierra, Social
Missouri LAGERS Chooses Sagitec for New Pension Administration System
Jefferson City, MO (PRWEB) April 12, 2009
Sagitec Solutions, LLC has launched the implementation of a new benefits administration solution for the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS). Sagitec, a global technology services company, won the multi-year contract to replace LAGERS’s existing system with a customized version of its industry leading Neospin™ framework. LAGERS, which administers multiple retirement, death, and disability benefit plans for over 44,000 participants and 553 participating political subdivisions across Missouri, seeks to improve business processing speed and accuracy, and extend self-service capabilities to members and employers.
“LAGERS, like many public pension funds, needs an updated system capable of meeting the modern needs of their members,” said Rick Deshler, Sagitec Senior Partner. “In this challenging economic environment, organizations are understandably cautious about major IT investments. Sagitec will keep the total cost of ownership down while extending and leveraging LAGERS’s IT investment with the exact features they require.”
Sagitec’s Neospin™ framework will replace the multiple applications of LAGERS’s current system with an integrated, browser-based solution built on a Microsoft .NET platform. The solution, to be called ECLIPSE, will also feature integration with a new accounting package and office automation. Sagitec will implement the ECLIPSE project in multiple phases, with a scheduled final release in March 2012.
“Sagitec’s solution provides a framework capable of accommodating the uniqueness of our retirement plan,” said Bill Schwartz, LAGERS executive secretary, “They have also provided a project team with a regular presence on-site.”
Sagitec Solutions, LLC is headquartered in Denver, CO. They have additional domestic offices in the Twin Cities (MN) and Topeka (KS), and international offices in Pune and Chennai, India. They have been in business since 2004, and have a resume that includes public pension funds for the states of Kansas, Colorado, North Dakota, California, Virginia, and Missouri. Further information can be found at www.sagitec.com or by contacting Rick Deshler at (651) 335-3406.
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Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: Administration, Chooses, LAGERS, Missouri, Pension, Sagitec, System
Ohio’s public employee retirement systems: Funding requirements and related issues (Ohio issues)
Ohio’s public employee retirement systems: Funding requirements and related issues (Ohio issues)
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Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: Employee, Funding, Issues, Ohio, Ohio's, public, related, Requirements, Retirement, Systems
Employment in the Disability Community
Kathleen Martinez, Rene David Luna and William Owens, Jr. discuss employment issues within the disability community. This program was produced by ADAPT of Chicago Productions with support from CAN TV.
Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: Community, Disability, Employment
Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado Selects Sagitec to Implement New Integrated Pension Administration Solution
Eagan, MN (PRWEB) June 20, 2006
Sagitec Solutions was selected by the Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado (FPPA) as their system integrator to design, develop and install a new pension administration system. The FPPA was established in 1980 and administers a statewide multiple employer public employee retirement system providing defined benefit plan coverage as well as death and disability coverage for police officers and firefighters throughout the State of Colorado. FPPA also administers over 200 separate defined benefit pension funds for police officers, firefighters, and volunteer fire; as well as a statewide money purchase plan, a statewide hybrid plan, and a 457 deferred compensation plan.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sagitec will tailor its Neospin™ pension administration framework to implement a new system that improves FPPA’s ability to respond to technology and business change. Sagitec will integrate document management, automated workflow, and accounting with a new line-of-business solution to further improve FPPA’s operational performance. When complete the new solution will provide FPPA with better record keeping and benefit calculation capability, enhanced ability to provide counseling and customer service and secure web based access for members and employers to access services.
“FPPA is ready to move forward with the next generation of technology that will provide enhanced services to our members and employers,” said Kim Collins, Chief Operations Officer, Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado.
Rick Deshler, senior partner at Sagitec, added, “We are excited about working with FPPA to help them rapidly move to the forefront of operational excellence using our Neospin™ framework. With 216 plans and a myriad of frequently changing business rules FPPA has the complex business environment for which Neospin™ was designed.”
About Sagitec Solutions
Founded in 2004, Sagitec is a technology solutions company that partners with public sector agencies to solve business problems created by complex and frequently changing business rules. Neospin™, Sagitec’s flagship solution framework helps State and Local agencies implement business solutions that are agile, evolutionary, and interoperable. For more information, visit www.sagitec.com.
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Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: Administration, Association, Colorado, Fire, Implement, Integrated, Pension, Police, Sagitec, Selects, Solution
Avoiding ERISA under disability insurance contracts.: An article from: Florida Bar Journal
Avoiding ERISA under disability insurance contracts.: An article from: Florida Bar Journal
This digital document is an article from Florida Bar Journal, published by Florida Bar on May 1, 2005. The length of the article is 5851 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Avoiding ERISA under disability insurance contracts.
Author: D. Frank Winkles
Publication: Flo
List Price: $ 5.95
Price: $ 5.95
Categories: Public Employee Disability Pension Tags: article, Avoiding, contracts., Disability, ERISA, Florida, from, Insurance, Journal, under
Disabled New Jersey Public Workers Beware – New Case Reduces Benefits
New Jersey, (PRWEB) December 24, 2004
New Jersey’s public workers, including all state employees, firefighters, police officers and teachers, will lose the ability to collect workers’ compensation benefits when they also receive an Ordinary Disability Pension, the New Jersey Appellate Division has ruled. Decided November 8, 2004, the case of Rosales vs. State of New Jersey, A-2110-02T, reversed the trial judge’s finding that workers’ compensation benefits may only be offset against Accidental Disability Pensions. Prior to this decision, a public worker who was totally disabled from a non-traumatic event could collect an Ordinary Disability Pension and benefits from the workers’ compensation system at the same time.
This decision flies in the face of the Legislature’s clear intent as the applicable Statute permits public employees to receive their Ordinary Disability Pension without reduction by the amount of any post retirement compensation. Further, the Division of Pensions has consistently interpreted and applied the various statutory provisions to mean that there is no reduction of benefits for recipients of Ordinary Disability Pensions. The Division of Pensions in all of its publications, employee advisory releases and on its web site have told all public employees and employers that Ordinary Disability Pensions are not subject to a reduction for receipt of Workers’ Compensation periodic benefits. “The impact of the decision is enormous as there is a huge difference between the various types of pensions that are available to public workers and and we will now need to fight harder to obtain the best benefit for our public employee clients”, said Ricky Bagolie a Jersey City based workers’ compensation and disability attorney with Bagolie Friedman which represents many firefighters, police officers and state employees.
The three basic types of pension benefits are: 1) Retirement based on years of service over 55 multiplied by the pertinent wage (not applicable here); 2) Accidental Disability Pension set at 72.67% of the pertinent wage; and 3.) Ordinary Disability Pension set at 43.6 % of the pertinent wage. There are also significant tax advantages to the Accidental Disability Pension as it has been classified as a Workers’ Compensation benefit and, as such, is fully tax exempt from state and federal income tax. The Ordinary Disability Pension is subject to state and federal income tax and the Time Service Pension is fully taxable. The Police and Fireman’s Pension Retirement Act (PFRS) and the State Police Retirement System (SPRS) standard for an Ordinary Disability Pension requires 4 years of employment for eligibility and the SPRS requires 5 years. Each of these provisions contain a disability test that the member be permanently mentally or physically incapable of performing usual duty or any other available duty to which the employer is willing to assign the officer. The Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)and The Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) statutory test for award of an Ordinary Disability Pension provides that a member,under 60 years of age, who has 10 or more years of credit for New Jersey service and that the member is physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty and should be retired.
No longer will a public employee be content to receive just an Ordinary Disability Pension. Because the benefits of an Accidental Disability Pension far outweigh the Ordinary disability pension, it is much more difficult to obtain. Procedurally, an employee who sustained an injury or occupational disease and who had to cease public employment would file for an Accidental Disability Pension and Workers’ Compensation. Very often the disability did not meet the “traumatic event” requirements of Accidental Disability and an award an Ordinary Disability Pension was given.
“Strategically, the employee would often not appeal the denial of the Accidental Disability Pension as they would be able to receive additional workers’ compensation benefits and now this must change and more pension rulings will have to be contested” said Bagolie. Bagolie Friedman represents first responders and has offices in Jersey City and Clifton, New Jersey and Hollywood, Florida. For more information, contact Mr. Bagolie or Alan Friedman at 201 656-8500 or info@bagoliefriedman.com or visit www.bagoliefriedman.com
Contact Ricky Bagolie 201 618 0508
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