August is flying by...

We had celebrated our company centennial back in July but since August is flying by I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that it actually is in the month of August (August 1st to be precise) that our company first came into being as the State Compensation Insurance Fund when the Colorado Workmen's Compensation Act went into effect (It wasn't changed to Workers' from Workmen's until 1986!). An appropriation of $50,000 from the State allowed the new Fund to get up and running and it was mandated to charge 5% less than private companies offering workmen's compensation insurance and to return dividends to policyholders after 10% had been set aside to build up a reserve fund. The Fund would fall under the umbrella of the State Industrial Commission. The Fund's first manager was Winfield W. Greene who also sat on the Industrial Commission.

The new law provided that after August 1st, 1915 every employer with four or more employees was required to pay injured workers compensation unless they elected before that time not to do so. If they elected not to do so the old remedy of being sued in court would be in force. The Act provided 3 ways by which employers could pay compensation:

1. Employers could insure their risk with the newly created State Fund
2. Employers could insure their risk with a private insurance company
3. If financially able, employers could carry their own risk and be self-insured

These three provisions remain today. 

At a meeting in Colorado Springs several of the largest mining employers in Colorado unanimously agreed to patronize the new State Fund. It was estimated that the metal mining industry alone would see the new Fund covering $5,000,000 in payrolls with the Fund receiving $125,000 in premiums. $5,000,000 in 1915 dollars would equate in today's dollars to approximately $506,000,000.

Not surprisingly, there had been opposition to the new Act and one of the most active opponents of the compensation law had been the Denver School Board, at least in terms of applying the law to school districts. On August 12, 1915 the Denver Times reported that the Denver School District and all other taxing units in the state would be required to comply with the provisions of the new law.

The law provided injured workers one half of their weekly wages up to a maximum of $8 per week with compensation beginning in the fourth week after the injury. Before that time there was coverage for medical care.

There were lofty expectations of the newly passed Colorado Workmen's Compensation Act:

• It would be a boon to the working men of the State by relieving hundreds, if not thousands, of injury cases which had gone uncompensated
• It would "bring about a spirit of harmony and cooperation" between employers and employees
• It would relieve the over-burdened court system and relieve employers from the loss of time and expense of long and sometimes bitter trials

How the Act has lived up to those expectations remains a topic of conversation to this day.