Workers’ Compensation Commission: Maine vs. Illinois

Yesterday, we looked at the nine workers’ compensation commissioners who each made over $100,000 in wages in 2008.  Taking a looking at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission as a whole, we see that the state paid the 208 other employees of this agency over eleven million dollars in combined wages.  Thirty-six employees of this agency made over $100,000, with arbitrators accounting for 33 of these 36 positions and typically making $113,000 per year.

Using the online resource MaineOpenGov.org, I found that the Maine Workers’ Compensation Commission paid only one of their employees more than $100,000 in 2008.  Additionally, hearing officers, Maine’s equivalent to Illinois arbitrators, earn at most, $98,000 per year.  In total, the Maine Workers’ Compensation Commission spent around $5 million on wages or approximately half of the $11.5 million that Illinois spent in 2008.

Why does Illinois need 35 more employees making over $100, 000 than Maine does?  Why do Illinois arbitrators make almost 15% more than their Maine counterparts?  Population wise, Maine is much smaller than Illinois, which could explain the differences in the number of employees and total wages, but why the differences in pay?

You can find this information by going to IllinoisOpenGov.org, clicking on “Payroll” and searching for “Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission” under the “Agency” heading.