Wisconsin Workers’ Compensation
Law Blog

An injured worker with permanent limits who cannot return to their injury employer generally is entitled to vocatational retraining benefits. The worker's compensation carrier covers the whole package: weekly benefits (at 2/3 of wages), plus meals, mileage expenses,...

Judges are people too. If a worker's compensation claim is disputed in Wisconsin, the process will proceed to a hearing before for an administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ listens to the hearing testimony, reviews the exhibits, weighs the evidence, and issues an...

For the last 40 years, the Wisconsin Worker's Compensation Advisory Council advises the Worker's Compensation Department and the Legislature on policy matters concerning the development and administration of the worker's compensation law. Overall, the Council has been...

I read with bittersweet thoughts that the state's high-risk insurance program was winding down, in anticipation of the implementation of the insurance exchanges through the Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare"). Health insurance-or lack thereof-is crucial to the lives and...

In Wisconsin, as in other states, the workers' compensation system provides that an employer or its insurance carrier is responsible for medical bills when an employee is injured at work or contracts a work-related disease. Wisconsin law requires that medical...

In most instances, an injured worker cannot sue her employer for a workplace injury. However, if an injury results from an employer's reckless, intentional, or illegal action, an injured worker can bring a separate claim against the employer directly. An employer's...

Workplace stress is unavoidable. From continual deadlines to unreasonable employers to difficult co-workers, most everyone experiences levels of stress and frustration in their daily job. What if the "normal" situation escalates? An incessant, berating boss. A...

Many of my back-injured clients use pain relief medication in the opioid family: Hydrocodone (Vicodin), Oxycodone (Oxycontin or Percocet), Fentanyl (Duragesic or Fentora), Methadone, and Codeine. Many variations of opioids exist, each with a different level of...

Last week we explained Wisconsin's rich history of protecting injured workers through its mandatory workers' compensation system. This week we'll look at what is happening in Texas and Oklahoma, where it is not mandatory for employers. Alternative worker's...

More than a century ago, Wisconsin's initial efforts in worker's compensation led the nation. In 1911 Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to place a broad constitutionally valid worker's compensation system into operation. Recent events, specifically...