Illinois Employer Shut Down for Lack of Workers’ Comp Insurance

For the first time, an Illinois business has been closed down for failure to obtain workers¹ compensation insurance. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and the City of Evanston shut down All Good Dogs Pet Care, also known as The Hungry Pup, an Evanston storefront at 941 Chicago Avenue, with dog-walkers in six suburbs.

Four individuals have filed workers¹ compensation claims against the company. Two individuals have been found eligible for workers¹ compensation, but the employer has not paid any benefits.

“We gave the employer every opportunity to comply with the law,” said Jan Eisbart, manager of the IWCC Insurance Compliance Division. “All they had to do was get insurance and they have not complied. They did not respond to our letters or even appear at the hearing. They forced our hand.”

Eisbart takes this occasion to remind all employers of their obligation to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. Employers may be fined up to $500 for each day without insurance, with a minimum fine of $10,000. Corporate officers may be held personally liable and/or sent to prison.

In 2005, the legislature strengthened the law by giving the Commission the authority to issue a work-stop order on an employer that has been found to knowingly fail to carry insurance.

Source: Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, www.iwcc.il.gov