The issue of independent contractor versus employer has been litigated in South Dakota. There is a presumption that the worker was an employee and it is the employer’s burden to establish the worker is an independent contractor. The Department of Labor and the South Dakota Supreme Court have provided a set of factors to consider…

The moment all of you have been waiting for….
The fifth prong of the five-part test provides: The employee must actually pursue the reasonable program of rehabilitation.
This part likely seems pretty self-explanatory, and, frankly, it is. If the Claimant can satisfy all of the other elements of the retraining benefits test, then he/she needs…

Part four of the five-part test states that an employee must file a claim with his employer requesting the benefits in order to be entitled to the same. The South Dakota Supreme Court, in Chiolis v. Lage Dev. Co., 512 N.W.2d 158, 161-162 (S.D. 1994), stated:

“Even recognizing that the primary purpose of rehabilitation benefits…

Beginning July 1, 2017, there will be a new statutory maximum and minimum workers’ compensation rate along with other rate and reimbursement changes. If you want to receive our Rate Sheets and Summary of Workers’ Compensation Law in SD, please contact Cheri Fodness at cafodness@boycelaw.com.

Summer is upon us and the 4th of July is just around the corner. Almost as exciting as fireworks is the third prong of the five-part rehabilitation test for South Dakota workers’ compensation claims. As Laura mentioned in last week’s blog post, I have the honor of discussing the third prong and what it means…

In connection with the last two weeks of the Boyce Work Comp and Employment Blog Insight, it is my turn to explain the second prong of the five-part rehabilitation test. I am sure that you have been waiting with baited breath to learn more about retraining benefits, so here it goes:

The second prong of…

As we discussed in last week’s blog post, a claimant must satisfy five elements before becoming eligible to receive rehabilitation benefits. The first element is that a claimant is required to show they are unable to return to their usual and customary line of employment. In other words, the claimant must prove that they are …

Claims for retraining benefits in South Dakota are one of the more difficult claims for a claimant to prove.  One would think that encouraging a claimant to return to school to learn a new trade or occupation should be one of the easier claims to establish, but in practice, that has simply proven not to…