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Illinois Industrial Commission to change name to
Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission
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New name will eliminate confusion and better
reflect mission
[DEC. 3, 2004]
CHICAGO -- In an effort
to better reflect the Illinois Industrial Commission's mission to
resolve disputes between injured workers and their employers
regarding workplace injuries, the agency is changing its name to the
Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission. The change goes into
effect Jan. 1, 2005.
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When Gov. Rod
Blagojevich signed
House Bill 6648 into law, he said, "This change is part of my
goal to make government more responsive to the needs of the people
of Illinois." "There is a lot of confusion created by the current
name," he continued. "Without any reference to workers'
compensation, injured workers and employers seeking assistance have
experienced continuous difficulties in locating this agency."
The governor added that the new name will eliminate confusion and
will require only nominal costs to update signs and literature.
"Not only does the current ambiguous name cause confusion in
determining what services are provided by our agency, we are often
confused with the Commerce Commission, the Department of Labor and
other government agencies -- both inside and outside
of state government," said Dennis R. Ruth, commission chairman. "The
bottom line is the name change will allow us to be more effective in
serving the citizens of Illinois."
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The commission is already in the process of updating documents to
reflect the new name and expects to have all signs, stamps and other
literature updated by January 2005. A new online site has also been
created and is currently available at
www.iwcc.il.gov.
The commission operates the court system for workers'
compensation cases. Roughly 300,000 work-related accidents occur in
Illinois each year; in 70,000 of these cases, workers file claims
with the commission. The commission then resolves disputes that have
arisen between the employee and employer regarding the cause of
accident, severity of disability, medical expenses and other issues.
Commission arbitrators conduct hearings at 32 sites throughout
Illinois, which provides injured workers and employers with easy
access to the workers' compensation system. If arbitration decisions
are appealed, a panel of three commissioners hears cases in
Springfield or Chicago.
[Illinois Industrial
Commission news release] |
