Title: The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers: The Social Justice of Workers’ Compensation - CHASENBOSCOLO
Headings: The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers: The Social Justice of Workers’ Compensation
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers: The Social Justice of Workers’ Compensation
Dignity of the Person Through Work
Employers Must Respect the Dignity of Workers, as Should Their Insurers
Laws Limiting Workers’ Compensation Benefits Threaten Human Rights

Content: James 5:1-6. “And O my people! Give just measure and weight, nor withhold from the people the things that are their due” (Quran 11:85). The above scriptural quotes, while ancient and hard-hitting, apply to the present-day obligation for employers to respect the dignity of their workers. These historic texts encapsulate the compelling worth of each and every worker, a worth that should be appreciated from a secular sense as well. The right to work and the moral obligation for employers to provide decent and fair wages, to allow for organization and the joining of unions and to provide workplace safety really is a hallowed and fundamental concept. With this historical and ethical perspective, modern employment laws should be designed and applied with deference to human rights, and employers and their agents should appreciate the gravity of their responsibility. Saint John Paul II recognized, “While work, in all its many senses, is an obligation, that is to say a duty, it is also a source of rights on the part of the worker. ” ( St. John Paul II, On Human Work (Laborem Exercens), no. 16).