Fla. Aggressive in Enforcing the Law

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 | 0

By McConnaughhay, Duffy, Coonrod, Pope & Weaver

The Bureau of Workers' Compensation Claims' and Bureau of Compliance's annual report continues to show that the bureaus are taking an aggressive approach to enforcing the law.

The bureaus’ activities resulted in 233 arrests as the agencies opened 660 cases as compared to the 486 in the previous fiscal year. The cases resulted in a fraud dollar restitution amount of $254 million, which is substantially higher than the $8.7 million in evaded premiums and monies paid on false claims recorded in 2005-2006. The increase is largely the result of one case against a
major employer, which involved the efforts of the two bureaus and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Looking at convictions, 58 individuals were convicted on charges of claimant fraud and 65 employers for working without workers’ compensation insurance.

Another 13 employers were convicted on charges of purposely evading paying appropriate premiums and 29 employers were found to use a false certificate of insurance to mislead their clients and state inspectors. Continuing their aggressive efforts to police theconstruction industry, the BOC also issued 2,517 stop work orders, which is a slight decline from the previous year. However, the penalties increased from $58 million to $75 million. Additionally, the work of the compliance officers resulted in 6,700 workers being added to the workers’ comp rolls, which generated $12.3 million in additional premiums.

Under a DWC rule, employers can enter into an agreement with the division to electronically pay their fines on a period basis. This allows employers to pay penalties in installments of 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 months. The service is free and can be accessed at www.myfloridacfo.com/WC.

The bureau also has two online track systems so employers and contractors can check the status of companies. The compliance stop work order database lists each employer’s name, the date the stop work order was issued, the date it was lifted, and the type of compliance violation. The construction policy-tracking database provides information to contractors and other parties concerning the workers’ compensation coverage status of sub-contractors. The system allows employers, carriers, and
state and municipal officials to submit a list of sub-contractors; the parties are then automatically contacted if there is
any change in the sub-contractor’s status. As of June 30, 2007, a total 5,600 database registrants are tracking nearly 26,000 sub-contractors.

McConnaughhay, Duffy, Coonrod, Pope & Weaver is a workers' compensation law firm with offices in Tallahassee,  Pensacola,• Panama City,• Jacksonville,• Gainesville, Ocala,• Sarasota, Fort Lauderdale •and Miami. This column was reprinted with permission from the law firm's Legislative & Regulatory Update.