Graduate Institute of Labor Research, National Chengchi University

為解決921 地震重建家園之需要、因應全球化影響下的產業外移及外在經濟環境之惡化所帶來的經濟衰退趨勢，勞委會參考歐盟「第三部門就業與地方發展計畫」（The Third System in Employment and Local Development）推動多元就業開發方案，期能以提升地方產業來降低失業衝擊與促進地方發展。本研究以2005年高雄地區經濟型多元就業團體為研究對象，從多元就業團體工作人員角度深入探討此政策欲達成之促進就業與發展產業的政策目標與實際執行現況間之差距及多元就業團體對多元就業開發方案之整體意見，結果發現：首先，各多元就業團體的現有營運狀況在經過多元就業方案之輔導後並未具備發展地方產業之能力，仍須大幅度改善；其次，在整體滿意度方面，以「民間團體與政府部門間促進就業之合作夥伴關係」及「政府協助民間團體提出具創意性、地方性及發展性計畫」兩項滿意度較高，「政府協助提升在地產業」及「政府協助失業者提升就業能力」之滿意度最低。根據上述研究結果顯示，多元就業開發方案之執行成效與「強化多元就業團體營運能力」、「發展地方產業」的政策目標仍有一段相當的距離。

To solve the 921 earthquake reconstruction needs and responding to globalization, CLA (Council of Labor Affairs) reference to the EU “The Third System in Employment and Local Development” to promote the development of multi-employment program view to upgrading local industries, reduce the impact of unemployment and the promotion of local development. The results of this research: First, it need to improvement between the current situation and policy objectives. The items “civil society and government departments to promote job,” and “government to help multi-employment organization offering innovative, and local developmental plan” has higher satisfaction, “The government assistance to upgrade the industry,” and “the government help the unemployed to enhance their employability,” the lowest degree of satisfaction. These results show that this program still can’t to achieve the objective of program, and it need to improve organizational capacity in the development of local industries.

本文分析台灣的長期失業者在面臨社會排除風險威脅的情形下，如何決定尋職策略與因應生存困境。研究發現，當長期失業者在失業後面臨「雇主拒絕」、「社會關係疏離」、「家庭支持降低」等社會排除風險的威脅，生計出現困境時，會藉由從事不穩定工作以暫時舒解生活經濟來源中斷的生存問題，但是從事不穩定工作，卻同時必須面臨「工作時間極不穩定」、「低度就業保障」、「薪資發放隨便化」等多項高度的工作風險。如何在「社會排除風險」與「不穩定就業風險」之間進行選擇，成為長期失業者的難題，相對有利且可行的「風險平衡」策略，就成為尋職時考量的新策略，就是在各項工作風險之間尋求平衡，重新設定尋職目標，進行各項工作風險比較，尋求「風險程度相對可承受的工作機會」，此時工作的「穩定性」才是尋職時的首要考量因素，薪資、職位與工作條件都不是主要考量。

This article analyzes how long-term unemployed form their job search strategy dealing with the social exclusion risk in Taiwan. There are three main finds. Firstly, precarious employment has been used as a means of solving economic break down, resulting from social exclusions, such as refusing employment, alienating social relation, and decreasing family support. Secondly, the interviewed precarious employed had to face higher precarious employment risks, including unstable working time, poor employment protection, and arbitrarily paid. Thirdly, by comparing job risks, risk balanced strategy is used as a means of resolving the dilemma between social exclusion risks and precarious employment risks in order to find out job opportunity, based on tolerable risk relativity of employment expected by long-term unemployed. In this case, job stability is the first consideration rather than wage, position or work conditions.

Workers' compensation was the first form of social insurance to develop widely in the United States (US). It is designed to provide cash benefits and medical care when employees suffer work-related injuries, illnesses or a disability related to their work, and survivor benefits to the dependents of workers who deaths result from a work-related incident. In exchange for receiving benefits, workers who receive workers’ compensation are generally not allowed to bring a tort suit against their employers for damages of any kind.

Thomason, Burton and Hyatt (1998) define disability as one possible consequence of an injury or disease. Most immediately a person afflicted by injury or disease suffers an impairment, which is an anatomic or functional abnormality or loss, such as the amputation of a limb, blindness, or lower back sprain. Impairments can result in functional limitations or limitations in physical or mental performance such as walking or climbing.

In turn, functional limitations may lead to disabilities, which refers to the inability to perform various social roles. A distinction can be made between work disability, which represents the loss of earning capacity or the actual loss of earnings, and non-work disability, which represents the effects of functional limitations on other aspects of life such as recreation and the performance of household tasks. While the origin of a disability is an injury or disease, other factors such as educational attainment or the state of the labor market also affect disability.

Thomason, Burton and Hyatt (1998) go on to say that there are at least five sets of actors involved in workers' disability: workers (including potential workers) and their representatives, employers, insurers, medical community, and government.

The workers and their representatives includes persons who may not be currently employed or even in the labor force and they can be further divided into two subgroups; disabled and nondisabled persons. NonWORKERS’ COMPENSATION IN THE UNITED STATES 117 disabled workers, are sympathetic to the problems of the disabled and their needs, are often obvious. They care about workplace health and safety but more typically are focused on other issues such as wages and job security and in recent years, healthcare costs.

Various persons or organizations represent the disabled and they have interests that sometimes differ from those of their clientele. For example, workers seeking compensation for disability sometimes hire attorneys to represent them. However, attorneys who are paid on a contingency fee basis, so that their compensation is based on the size of the judgment, are frequently reluctant to represent disabled claimants seeking compensation from social security programs such as workers’ compensation, because of the lack of potential fees. Other evidence suggests that contingent fees sometimes induce attorneys to settle workers’ compensation claims for amounts that are substantially less than the claimants would receive if claims were adjudicated.

Unions are democratic political institutions that by and large reflect the interests of their members. As previously indicated non-disabled workers, including union members, are often not interested in disability issues or even workplace health and safety but are more concerned about issues like wages and job security. Disabled persons are not likely to be well represented in the union since there are fewer numbers to begin with and since their disability often forces them out of the labor force and consequently off union membership role.

Employers play several roles in the workers’ disability system. Working conditions established by employers directly affect the incidence of work-related injuries and diseases. In addition, firm policies and practices also determine the employment prospects of the disabled as well as their compensation once employed. Employers also provide compensation to disabled workers in the form of disability or health insurance.

Insurers also play a critical role with respect to several aspects of the workers disability system. Insurers are the primary financial intermediaries between employers and workers in the workers’ compensation program as well as in employer-sponsored health insurance and to a lesser extent, disability insurance. Like employers, insurance carriers are motivated by profit and profit depends on their ability to accurately forecast costs associated with the cost of benefits paid by policy holders. Unexpected cost increases, for example, due to an unanticipated shift in the injury distribution can result in insurer losses (Thomason, Burton and Hyatt, 1998).

Then there is the medical community. While the medical community is involved in the pursuit of all goals of the workers’ disability system, its primary role is to act as the systems gate keeper. This means that physicians legitimize patient complaints determining who is disabled and who is not as well as the nature and cause of disability. Physicians determine eligibility for medical treatment as well as compensation and are also significantly involved in establishing the amount of compensation due.

With regard to the role of government, prior to the industrial age, the problems with work disability were considered the responsibility of the family, the church, or the community. However, the breakdown of these institutions during the industrial revolution as well as the increased incidence of occupationally related injury and disease caused government to assume a greater role. Successive legislative initiatives in the United States since the end of the century have produced the vast array of government agencies associated with every aspect of the workers’ disability system. This includes state worker’s compensation agencies, the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Occupational Safety and

Health Administration (OSHA), various state level OSHAs, the federal state vocational rehabilitation program, the Veterans’ Administration, the National Institute for Safety and Heath, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and state insurance commissions.

This paper addresses the following aspects of the US workers’compensation system: history, a general description of the system,coverage, benefits, appeals, special funds, the possible impact on safety and experience rating, the effects of unions, the role of health maintenance organizations, a brief review of related federal government programs, and conclusions.