At The Podium
The Oklahoma Employee Injury Benefit Act
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In their attempt to make the state’s workers’ compensation system more efficient and less expensive, the Oklahoma Legislature created a truly unique and nationally significant piece of legislation that offers employers three options for providing workers’ compensation coverage and benefits and for handling claims filed on or after February 1, 2014.
During the second half of McAfee & Taft’s EmployerLINC seminar titled “Workers’ Compensation Overhaul: What Oklahoma’s triple option means for employers,” employee benefits attorney Brandon Long and litigator Mark Spencer assist Oklahoma employers in understanding and analyzing the law’s key opt-out provision. Under the Oklahoma Employee Injury Benefit Act, employers who opt out of the new administrative system must cover occupational injuries under a benefit plan that provides for payment of the same forms of benefits included in the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act.
Specific topics covered include:
- Which law – federal or Oklahoma – governs benefit plans?
- Tort law and occupational injury damages
- Tort law and benefit denial damages
- The benefits of opting out
- Best practices for providing an occupational benefit plan in addition to a non-occupational plan
- Action steps for employers who want to opt out
- Requirements for offering an occupational benefit plan
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
