When any of us gets hurt or sick on the job, workers’ comp is supposed to guarantee us and our families any medical care, income, occupational rehabilitation, work adaptations, and burial benefits we might need. It should also require employers to fix workplace hazards to keep anyone else from getting hurt or sick. But workers’ claims for long-term disabilities and illnesses are being denied, and employers aren’t being held accountable to fix dangerous working conditions.

In this report, we unpack why workers’ comp isn’t working, articulate a set of principles to guide policy changes, and offer a number of policy recommendations to protect workers and help build a more just, democratic economy. These recommendations range from immediately actionable changes within existing workers’ compensation systems to the longer-term goal of abolishing workers’ compensation as we know it and reimagining our broader systems of health care, income support and corporate governance to make sure they work for injured and ill workers and for all people.

Click through these slides to see key highlights from the report, read our narrative newsletter article summarizing the report, or read the full report at the bottom of this page:

Additional Resources

Democratizing Workers' Comp report