ORIGINS
The Ohio worker’s compensation law has had a major impact to business and society throughout its history. Just as any law it has been refined and polished numerous times. The law has gone through many changes in its evolution to what your worker’s compensation lawyer at Malek & Malek has become today.
Worker’s compensation sprouted in Ohio, after a nationwide investigation into industrial injuries. After the results of the investigation became known a constitutional amendment was passed by Ohio voters in 1911. This amendment created a voluntary worker’s compensation program for employers. If the employer decided to participate on the program they were held liable to pay 90% of the employee’s premium while the employee had to cover the remaining 10%. There were two built in exceptions that would cause the employer to be held completely liable; they were: if the injuries were caused by the employer’s failure to comply with an ordinance, lawful order, or statute for the protection of the lives or safety of employees (lawful requirement), and also injuries caused by the willful act of the employer. This created a very lenient program for the employer if they decided to even join the program at all.
Continue reading Ohio Workers’ Compensation: The Historical Compromise