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John F. Burton Jr. revisits the original purpose of workers’ compensation, calling for a renewed focus on fairness, balance, and worker protection.

Impairment guidelines are essential in determining how injured workers receive compensation. These rules provide a standardized method for evaluating injuries, aiming to ensure that each decision is fair and based on clear medical criteria. But when the guidelines become outdated or are applied inconsistently, fairness can suffer. Workers’ compensation systems rely on a careful balance.

When New York State proposed a major shift in its Workers’ Compensation Impairment Guidelines in late 2017, many experts weighed in—but few with the clarity and depth of John Frederick Burton, a national authority on workers’ compensation policy. In Rethinking the Rules, Burton offers a compelling critique of the proposed changes and their broader implications.