Kathy Swan puts experience to work in new role on state commission

Kathy Swan has occupied many roles in her life — small-business owner, nurse, Cape Girardeau city councilwoman, member of the state House of Representatives and church musician, among others.

As of Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Cape Girardeau resident added another title — commissioner — after having been confirmed by the Missouri Senate to a six-year term as the employer representative on the state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC).

Swan, who had already been working as interim commissioner since July after her appointment by Gov. Mike Parson, previously served eight years — from 2013 to 2021 — as District 147 representative in the state General Assembly's lower chamber.

The Southeast Missourian asked Swan seven questions about her new job, which pays $120,332 per annum and expires June 2028.

How did it come to be that the governor named you to the commission?

I had made it known I was still interested in serving. [The job] really ties into my experience. I grew up in a family business, then known as Johnson Communication Service, later JCS Wireless, since I was 9 years old. Back then, I helped my mother with some of the book work and with the telephone before she passed away. After getting married, my husband, Reg, began working in the business. As time went on, the business grew and we ended up buying my father's portion of the business. I've had years of being an employer, and now I'm in the employer seat on the commission, which is a perfect fit. When I was at Saint Francis Healthcare, one of the jobs I had was employee health nurse and got familiar with workers' compensation claims. In our business, we've dealt for years with work comp claims and unemployment issues, so my career experience ended up being a perfect preparation for this role.

What is the basic work of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission?

Primarily, we do workman's compensation appeals and unemployment claim appeals. Someone is injured on the job and files a workman's comp claim; an administrative law judge will attempt to try to resolve the claim; there is a hearing and the judge makes a decision. If either employee or employer doesn't like the decision, an appeal is filed. Incidentally, there is a window of time to make an appeal, which is set by [Missouri] statute. People thinking of challenging a decision by one of these judges really need to read the paperwork because it can make a big difference

We have a staff of five or six attorneys who review all the data. A protocol is followed before there is a decision. Unemployment claims are handled similarly. Those claims are handled by the Division of Employment Security. In unemployment appeals, a deputy in the department makes a ruling. If either side disagrees, the matter goes to appeals tribunals and there is a hearing. If the tribunal's decision doesn't bring satisfaction, then the case is appealed to our Commission. Actually, for both workman's comp and unemployment, the tribunal comes up with a ruling before any appeal is made to our three-member Commission.

The commission has an employer representative, that's me. The employee rep commissioner is Kiki Curls, and the LIRC's public representative is our chairperson, attorney Rodney Campbell. Majority vote decides cases. Our commission is the last stop before any appeal may be made to the Court of Appeals. It's a process.

How long does it take to get resolution of cases?

If an appeal comes to the Commission, our goal is to get resolution in 40 days for unemployment claims and 90 days for workers' comp.

When appeals are involved, the length of time to resolution can vary significantly.

You indicated you do some work remotely in Cape Girardeau and go to Jefferson City for hearings and other matters. Would you give an idea of your personal workload?

Here's an idea. As of Tuesday, Jan. 17, we had 432 unemployment claims already in our commission queue, and 317 were incoming pending cases. We have fewer workers' comp cases. Of those, we have 107 cases pending. Not to get confusing but the department of Labor and Industrial Relations overall has 25,137 open claims against insurers. There are 11,639 open claims against the Second Injury Fund. Some of these may get eventually appealed to our commission, of course.

You were a lawmaker for a significant period of time — first for the city of Cape and then for the state. How different is the Commission's work from legislating?

It's very different. These are significant decisions impacting people's lives we are called on to make. For work comp, for example, we're talking about compensation for lost wages and medical bills. Can that person go back to work or not? Does the Second Injury Fund come into play? Is there a pre-existing condition to consider? The rulings we make can alter the path of someone's life. We take this work seriously, and I and my colleagues are very honored to do it. I'm working every day and finding the work rewarding. I like to learn things. The variety we're exposed to in the employment arena is fascinating, complex and extremely important.

What's your elevator speech about the Commission?

The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is charged with workplace safety. Our role as a commission is to ensure, as best we can, that both employees and employers are treated fairly.

If anyone reading this article has specific questions, how may they contact you?

They can email me at Kathryn.Swan@labor.mo.gov or the Commission at lirc@labor.mo.gov.

For questions about an existing claim or filing a claim, visit www.labor.mo.gov/contact-labor.

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