I’m not a huge fan of politics or the Government no matter who is in charge, but I’m even less of a fan of someone who breaks the law.
Fortunately there is an area of the Government that works well when someone breaks the law and that is the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) going after employers who do not carry workers’ compensation insurance.
It’s a class 4 felony to knowingly not carry insurance and a misdemeanor to negligently not carry insurance. Not enough people are going to jail over this, but it can happen.
What happens more is that a business owner will get fined. The fine is $500 a day with the minimum fine being $10,000.00. I have my own work comp insurance so I know it’s not cheap, but a ten thousand dollar fine is a real kick in the teeth. Corporate officers can be held personally liable if the company fails to pay. Since 2006, the State has collected over $7.000,000.00 in fines so the bad guys are not getting away with it.
Beyond that, the IWCC can issue a stop work order than can prevent a business from operating until it has proof of insurance.
Your employer has to list the coverage information in an obvious place. If they don’t or if you think that they don’t have coverage, you can anonymously report them and the State will inspect them.
It’s estimated that over 91% of Illinois companies are in compliance with the law, but there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be 100%. And just as we get rid of bad lawyers by reporting their dishonesty to the State, if your employer is breaking the law, you should report them too. It’s in your best interests as well as the best interests of everyone else.
