150 Layoffs in the GTP Towanda Plant

From the Towanda Daily Review:

TOWANDA - Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. announced Wednesday that it is eliminating 150 positions at its Towanda plant.  The reduction in employees is occurring because the plant has experienced a dropoff in sales in its wire and phosphor business, according to a press release from the company. 

"The phasing out of incandescent light bulbs and technology changes that require less phosphor in fluorescent lamp manufacturing" has a resulted in a decrease in sales in GTP's wire and phosphor business, GTP said in its press release. 

The positions being eliminated are all associated with the plant's production of wire products, which are used in a variety of industries, primarily lighting, said Craig Rieder, director of human resources at GTP.  The elimination of the positions is expected to begin in September 2012 and be completed by February 2013, the release said.

As I often tell clients who are laid off, if you are currently working but on light duty with restrictions due to a work injury, and then you're laid off, you need to contact a competent workers' compensation attorney immediately.  Your wage benefits should be immediately reinstated upon lay off....even if the work injury is an old one.  Call me if you have any questions.

Layoffs at Wyalusing's Cargill Plant

From the Towanda Daily Review:

The Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Wyalusing has eliminated ten positions as part of a worldwide reduction in the company's workforce. The cuts amount to about one percent of the Wyalusing plant's 1,100-person workforce, said Cargill Meat Solutions spokesman Mike Martin. The eliminated positions come from a variety of departments within the plant, Martin said.

The only reason I highlight this article is to point out and remind workers that if you're laid off due to economic conditions AND you're still on light duty from an accepted work injury, then your workers' comp wage benefits automatically get reinstated-- no questions asked.  If the insurance company refuses to immediately reinstate your weekly wage benefits, then you need to contact a lawyer so he/she can file a penalty petition with the workers' compensation judge.  This rule even applies to old injuries.  As long as you're still on restricted duty from a work injury and you get laid off, then your benefits are reinstated.

Hope this helps.  And my heart goes out to the laid off workers and their families.  Tough time of the year to be unemployed.  Good luck to them.

The Loneliness of Disabled Workers

Employers and insurers regularly challenge the injured worker's right to either wage or medical workers' compensation benefits, and thousands of dollars are spent everyday, in the hiring of doctors, vocational experts and lawyers, all to prove that the worker is either not injured as he claims; his medical treatment is unreasonable; he can work in light of his injuries; or that his continuing complaints relate to some other medical condition, and are therefore not "work-related," the legal key that unlocks the system of benefits.

The goal of returning the injured worker to productive employment is given lip-service only; our system is at best inept and at worst counterproductive in failing to address the thousands of people whose injuries prevent them from returning to the type of work they customarily perform, and providing little guidance, funding or other assistance in re-education or retraining in an appropriate skill to permit return to work in a new job. The same, incidentally, is true for workers whose jobs have been outsourced. For example, an injured worker who can no longer lift or carry heavy objects, working for an employer who has no "light duty" work available, is directed to find and accept other employment.

These other jobs are typically low wage, entry level positions in which the injured person has neither experience nor interest. But the only legal issue that matters is the workers' physical ability to do the new job - not his long term future, availability of insurance or other benefits, or even the hours or location of work. The midnight desk clerk position at the local motel, or cashier position at a gas station, are perennial favorites found by insurer hired vocational "experts" seeking to aid the injured worker back into the workforce, and a lot of time and money is spent to prove these jobs suitable. There is value in that work, but it is far from suitable, in any sense other than physical ability, for many injured workers.

How much smarter would it be to redirect the money spent on proving the availability of low wage jobs, in order to justify cutting workers' comp benefits, to paying for re-education in a new field by obtaining an associate's degree at the local community college? Answer: incredibly smarter. Why doesn't it happen? Because the law imposes no obligation on insurers or employers to either evaluate, retrain or re-educate injured workers. An insurer will easily spend $10,000 to prove the suitability of a low wage job: it needs a medical expert to show physical capability, a vocational expert to show job availability, and a lawyer to present evidence of both. What would that same $10,000 buy? Probably an associate's degree.

Admittedly not all injured workers would qualify for or be interested in going back to school, but my bet is that many would if given the chance, or if they were at least advised of the availability of additional education, some guidance about how to decide what to learn, how to enroll, and continuation of benefits for 2-3 years. This outcome can happen now, but only by a combination of luck, good advice and self-direction. How many people would know about the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, a state agency charged with, among other things, helping injured workers, unless they are told about it?

There is the potential for big gains in money saved, careers rehabilitated, and increased economic competitiveness. The legislative fix could be as simple as requiring insurers to vocationally evaluate injured workers (similar to what they do now, but earlier in the game, and for the right purpose, i.e. increased job opportunities); notify workers' of the educational and retraining opportunities that exist, and, in cooperation with local community colleges, monitor enrollment and timely completion of classes, and pay for tuition and related expenses while continuing wage loss benefits for the time required for completion and job acquisition following graduation. Workers' who without good cause don't follow through with an approved re-training program could have their benefits suspended.

Some of this information was provided by Attorney Dan Stern of Harrisburg, PA.

No Work Jobs

Every once in awhile I have a case where the employer offers a sedentary job to one of my clients but the job is really not a “job.” It is referred to as a “no work” job where the claimant merely shows up and sits there and basically does nothing. But, the injured worker gets paid his normal wage for his time.

You may ask why would an employer do this, basically pay someone their normal wage for producing no work? In many instances there are unseen costs of having the employee out of work and receiving workers’ compensation wage benefits. Some employers want to keep the employee at the job site so they can keep an eye on him/her. Some employers think it is too expensive to have a wage claim open with their insurance company because their workers’ compensation premiums will rise. Other employers merely want to set the employee up for failure so that they can fire the employee and stop his workers’ compensation benefits.

In a new case from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Channel Lock, Inc. v. W.C.A.B. (Reynolds), the Court addressed one of these “no work” jobs. The court ultimately held that the job was not within the injured employee's physical capabilities.

The facts are pretty simple. The injured employee was offered a job where he basically came in to work and sat there. The employee actually tried to do this but fell asleep one day because the medication that he was taking made him drowsy. The employer threatened to fire him if he did it again. At that point, the employee’s attorney filed a petition to allege that the job was not available within his physical restrictions. During the hearing process, the claimant’s doctor testified that the medication could cause drowsiness and the claimant himself testified that every time he took this prescribed medication he became sleepy.

Ultimately, the Commonwealth Court held that the job was not within the claimants physical restrictions due to the fact that he could easily fall asleep while performing these “no work” jobs.

I believe that the underlying lesson in this case is that the courts do not look kindly on these “no work” jobs and, if possible, will always rule on the side of the claimant if they believe that there are other motives that the employer has offered these sham jobs.

Bradford County Employers Laying Off Workers

In today's Towanda Daily Review, there are two articles about local employers laying off workers. Because of this, I wanted to again stress my last blog post: "What do I do when I'm working light duty but laid off?"

As detailed in the Towanda Daily Review, employees from the former Osram Sylvania, now Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. (GTP), were offered a voluntary layoff. See the article here.

Also in the same edition of the paper, two Troy, Pennsylvania companies owned by the Cummings Family, have laid off workers. 22 employees from Cummings Lumber and 48 employees from Barefoot Flooring have been laid off. See the article here.

As stressed in my last post, if you're working a light duty job due to a work related injury and you're laid off, you should contact an experienced workers' compensation attorney immediately. At that point, your total disability wage benefits should be reinstated immediately upon lay off.

What do I do when I'm working light duty but laid off?

During tough economic times, many employees face layoffs. One of the first types of employees that a company would layoff, for economic reasons, are the ones that are working light duty due to a work related injury. It is imperative that, if you are in this situation and you are facing a layoff, but you are currently working in a light duty status due to a work related injury, you need to talk to an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer immediately.

If you are laid off while working a light duty job, due to a work related injury, then your total disability wage benefits should be immediately reinstated. Despite the fact that this is clearly the law, many employers do not know this and will not reinstate workers’ compensation wage benefits once the employee is laid off.

Also, in many instances, the employer and/or workers’ compensation insurance company has not even officially accepted the work related injury. Then, once the injured worker is laid off, the insurance company will claim that they never officially accepted the work injury and, therefore, you will be completely out of luck.

That is why it is imperative that if you have a work injury, you need to report it and make sure that the workers’ compensation insurance company officially accepts the specific work injury so everything is official and formal. Then, if you do face a layoff for economic reasons, it will be easier to have your total disability wage benefits reinstated.