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When the economy lags, like now, so do the amount of reported job-related accidents and workers’ compensation claims filed. I speak from the experience of handling claimants’ workers’ compensation cases for the past 23 years.

Employees fear being fired for having an accident on the job. In my experience, the fear is well founded. Accordingly, when jobs are scarce, employees are more hesitant to report accidents and injuries as compared to when jobs are plentiful.

In the mid- to late-1990s, the Clinton years, when the economy was booming and the next job was right around the corner, employees had little fear of reporting an injury, like a tweaked back – which could be a herniated disc – from heavy lifting or a twisted knee – which could be a meniscus tear or worse – from falling from a ladder. If necessary, employees hired lawyers to assert their rights under the law.

This is not so anymore. Not even close. I have noticed a decided decline in workers’ compensation cases over the past 4-5 years, especially the last 2-3 years. (This is not surprising given that, since December, 2007, the U.S. economy has shed more than 8 million jobs.)

As a result, many employees are failing to report and pursue benefits for serious injuries. The long term consequences of this can be profound. Serious injuries require medical attention and rest. Working through a serious injury is not always the answer. Injuries that fail to heal properly will only worsen over time, resulting in the need for greater medical care and the inability to maintain gainful employment in the future.

This is one of many negative consequences of a poor economy. Let’s hope that things improve soon.
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Hardworking individuals today are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their expenses. Mortgage foreclosures, credit card defaults, and vehicle repossessions are reaching record proportions. With the rise in defaults come the inevitable collection efforts by creditors and debt collection agencies. In some cases, the collection efforts cause more pain than the default itself. Fortunately for Florida residents, there is a body of law designed to combat overzealous creditors and bill collectors. Unfortunately, the law, located in Chapter 559 of the Florida Statutes and referred to as the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, is little-known and greatly underutilized.

Collection efforts are allowed and take many forms, from lawsuits, dunning notices, phone calls, to reporting the debt to credit reporting agencies. Thankfully, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act prohibits some activities and provides a remedy for breaches. Examples of proscribed activities include using or threatening violence; communicating or threatening to communicate with a debtor’s employer prior to obtaining final judgment; communicating with such frequency as to constitute harassment; using profane or vulgar language in a communication; simulating in any manner a law enforcement officer or a representative of any governmental agency; and communicating with the debtor between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. It is also unlawful to claim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a debt when the collector knows that the debt is not legitimate or assert the existence of some other legal right when such collector knows that the right does not exist. This particular violation is quite common and typically arises in the context of a debt that once existed but was resolved.
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