Perhaps it does not surprise anyone that when money and jobs get tight, more employees are willing to render unethical claims against workmen's compensation. This lapse in integrity is nothing new, as people who are poor, broke, and afraid of losing their jobs are often stressed to the max and humans under stressful situations do indeed make very poor choices. And whereas, this might be understandable, it is still fraudulent and it is costing companies and corporations billions.
In California for instance the unemployment rate is over 10% now during this recession and the Worker's Compensation rates are soaring and have increased 20% in two years, and that is a lot consider they were already too high, but higher they will continue to climb until this problem is fixed. These days a worker can claim "stress" and figure out a way to collect workmen's compensation. But isn't that ridiculous, aren't we all stressed out during this economy?
Employers are stressed to the max, and may have to close their companies, workers knowing this and realizing they will soon be without work are figuring out ways to collect and get out before the collapse of the company they are currently working for. It is a catch-22.
Worse, the state is cutting costs and case workers are so busy they cannot handle all the claims much less check to make sure that they are not fake. Oh, sure they are working their tails off and doing the best anyone could even dream of expecting, but the problem is that this system is broken and being taken advantage of and the increased costs are killing businesses left and right. Please consider this.