Signing away workers comp rights.

Factual Questions
1

As a business consultant I sometimes (but not usually) deal in clients workers compensation cases, but it’s usually a rare occasion for me to do so. About 7 years ago my company sent me to a training course on Workers comp., so I pretty much know the basics. But last week a client told one of my co-workers that he was requiring all new employees to sign a waiver saying that any injury they obtain on the job was not the companies problem. I spoke with my boss about this, and asked him if something in the law has changed. I don’t think a business can shirk their responsibility to an injured worker like this. Having the same boss as the comic strip Dilbert, all I got was the deer in headlights look.
Does anyone have any info on this? Are companies doing this now, and getting away with it? In 15 years I’ve never run into it.

Note: That clients business is NOT a union shop. That may have something to do with it.

2

Well, in CA, you cannot sign away your legal rights. And, I doubt if you could in most other states. If we get no solid answers here, my buddie’s a workers comp attorney- I’ll ask him.

3

Workers’ Compensation laws vary from state to state, but there is no state I know of that would allow a company to require its employees to sign away their comp rights. Basically, any agreement of that type would be null and void in a court of law. The company can ask you to sign anything it wants, but it’s not enforceable.

I’ve been a workers’ comp adjuster for ten years so I know whereof I speak.