Your article on the workers' compensation crisis ("Staying
Alive," January) made a lot of dangerous generalizations.
First, you seemed to be giving legal advice about workers'
comp, when the rules in every state are different. For example, you
stated that some small-business owners don't need insurance.
Here in Illinois, that is not the case in almost every instance.
Second, while rates have gone up, that is not because of increasing
injuries but rather because the poor stock market has caused
insurance companies to lose millions.
I am a small-business owner and entrepreneur, but I also get to
see the effects of bad workers' comp laws on honest,
hard-working people. Go to Indiana, Kentucky, New Mexico, Texas,
Utah, Wyoming and many other states, and take a real look at how
many people are going belly up over laws that allow their companies
to discriminate against them. When your employer [can] send every
employee to the same doctor who always says that the worker is
fine, then there is a big problem.
I hope [your] future articles will show all sides rather than
implying there is a crisis. The real crisis is greedy insurance
companies that aren't regulated.
Michael Jay
Owner
InjuryLawyer
Finder.com
Chicago
Content Continues Below
After reading the article about workers' comp in your
January issue ("Staying Alive"), I felt the need to
comment. I have over 10 years' experience as a loss-control
consultant for workers' compensation carriers, so I know a bit
about the subject. I felt the article did not stress accident
prevention enough as a way for reducing workers' compensation
costs. If an employer [has no accidents] or only a few minor
accidents, he or she will not have to worry about the high medical
or litigation costs of claims. It's ironic that the author
quoted a roofing contractor. I remember interviewing one roofing
contractor who told me that having caused two employees to [become]
quadriplegics in the past year was "not bad, considering [he]
did 2,000 roofs last year." With so many employers having a
disposable-worker mentality, it's no wonder their rates are so
high. No amount of legislation is going to reduce the medical costs
of caring for quadriplegics for the rest of their lives. Preventing
those types of accidents from happening in the first place
will.
Also, where did the author get the factoid that "older
employees get hurt and sick on the job more often"? Based on
my experience, older workers have fewer accidents because they are
more experienced and less likely to take risks that younger workers
often take. According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reports, workers between the ages of 25 and 44 had 827,510
lost-time injuries in 2001, compared with 451,484 injuries for
workers [aged] 45 to 64. Any way you look at it, younger workers
have more accidents. Of course, older workers will likely have more
occupational diseases, because it usually takes years of exposure
to toxic chemicals before noticeable disease manifestation. If the
employer had prevented toxic chemical exposure in the first place,
there wouldn't be a disease in that older worker 20 years down
the line.
Diane Herrera
Certified Industrial Hygienist, Certified Saftety
Professional
Austin, Texas
Editor's Note: Our article inaccurately paraphrased
statistics from the National Academy of Social Insurance. Older
workers are not injured on the job more frequently than younger
ones. However, when they are injured on the job, they tend to take
more time off work than do younger workers (an average of five
weeks, compared with about three and a half weeks for workers aged
25 to 44).
"Staying Alive" (January) was a timely article, but
I'm afraid you missed the most important story. It was actually
buried on [the third] page, where Paul Darely chose to control his
costs at the source, using the same type of business plan most
companies would require of any new aspect of business.
The bottom line is that properly managed, rising workers'
compensation costs can be used to allow a company to gain a
competitive edge rather than becoming an "uncontrollable"
expense. The majority of your article discusses
"reactionary" management, such as controlling provider
fees. If you study the issue, provider fees should actually be
increased if they are willing to provide timely information in a
way that can be understood. It's "time" (or delays in
time) that is the major cost-driving culprit.
John W. Shervey
President
John W. Shervey and Associates Inc.
Kent, Washington
Interesting article on workers' comp ("Staying
Alive," January), except it should have been titled:
"Laughing All the Way to the Bank: Tried-and-True Workers'
Comp Bromides and PR Myths That Pit Employers Against Employees and
Bring Ever-More-Obscene Profits to the Insurance
Overlords."
Bob King
Via e-mail
Little Train That Could
I enjoyed the article "Beyond
Basic Training" in the February issue. I believe that all
business owners, of all companies small to large, should attend
leadership training programs. An ongoing commitment to developing
[yourself] is essential to being a successful leader and business
owner.
I was, however, disappointed with one large aspect of the
article. Three training programs were featured in the article. Each
of these programs is sponsored and led by a large corporate entity.
There are many entrepreneurial businesses that offer quality
programs. This is Entrepreneur magazine. Shouldn't the
magazine feature smaller businesses when possible? I believe that
with better research, [Dale] Buss could have found many
high-quality leadership training programs provided by small
businesses.
Stephen Harap
President
Partners for Productivity Inc.
Downers Grove, Illinois
Editor's Note: To view our Online Exclusive (featured on
page 62 of the article), which lists several entrepreneurial
leadership boot camps, go to www.entrepreneur.com/features/bootcamps.
Contact Info:
- To subscribe or check on your subscription status, go to
www.entrepreneur.com/subscribe.
- Share your comments
- . Write to Letters,
Entrepreneur, 2445 McCabe Wy., #400, Irvine, CA 92614; fax (949)
261-0234; or contact us at www.entrepreneur.com or AOL
keyword: Entrepreneur magazine. Letters may be edited for
brevity and clarity.