Premium
Using workers' compensation claims to investigate occupational injuries among residential day laborers and domestic workers
Author(s) -
Riley Kevin,
Majano Rosario
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.23234
Subject(s) - workers' compensation , medicine , occupational injury , payment , occupational safety and health , odds , housekeeping , environmental health , compensation (psychology) , work (physics) , residence , injury prevention , poison control , logistic regression , demographic economics , business , finance , psychoanalysis , chemistry , pathology , engineering , psychology , biochemistry , mechanical engineering , gene , economics
Background While many states have legal provisions to extend workers' compensation eligibility to day laborers or domestic workers hired directly by homeowners or families, little is known about the nature or frequency of injury claims submitted on behalf of these “residential employees.” Methods We examined California workers' compensation claims records for injuries that appear to have occurred in residential settings between 2008 and 2018 and where the employer of record was an individual or family. We examined the demographic, occupational, and injury characteristics of our sample and analyzed factors that contribute to the likelihood of a claim resulting in some sort of payment. Results We identified 5,463 workers' compensation claims that were likely submitted on behalf of residential employees. Claims most commonly reflected injuries to workers performing housekeeping tasks, followed by construction/maintenance and caregiving. Workers performing construction/maintenance or gardening/landscaping tasks were more likely to be injured on the same day of hire and were more likely to require hospitalization or emergency treatment for their injuries; however, these workers also had a smaller proportion of claims that resulted in payment. We found that employment tenure had the biggest impact on the likelihood of payment, with the odds increasing sharply after the first day of work. Conclusions Although the claims in our data set likely represent only a small fraction of all injuries to residential day laborers and domestic workers during this period, we suggest that workers' compensation claims can provide valuable clues for better understanding occupational injuries among workers in this largely informal sector.