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With Daniel Cafaro Montana has joined the obesity debate, determining in a recent case that being severely overweight, even with no underlying medical condition, can be a disability protected by state law. In BNSF Railway Co. v. Feit (No. OP 11-0463, 2012 MT 147 (Mont. July 6, 2012)), the state’s supreme court decided that obesity […]
Welcome to the third and final part of our special question-and-answer session with Steve Rozillis, head of Customer Evangelism at Panopto. Yesterday we looked at the value of online storage and streaming. Today we’ll look at what kinds of specialized equipment and software is needed to record and store educational training sessions.
by Steven L. Brenneman The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which will ban noncompetition agreements for low-wage private-sector employees, goes into effect on January 1. The law defines a “low-wage employee” as an employee who earns the greater of the applicable federal, state, or local minimum wage or $13 per hour. Therefore, the law initially […]
West Virginia has become the 41st state to ban texting while driving. The law, which went into effect July 1, makes it a primary offense to text with a handheld cell phone while driving. Because it’s a primary offense, violators can be pulled over and cited. Texting already was a secondary offense, meaning someone violating […]
How much a health plan may change before losing grandfathered plan status was addressed in a final Affordable Care Act rule issued on Nov. 13 by the three U.S. departments that administer ACA reform. The rule (which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2017) finalizes familiar pieces of agency guidance, many of them issued in 2010. The rule also addresses […]
In a decision that could be enormously costly for some California public employers, the state’s high court has ruled that long-term temps hired by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) through private temporary agencies may be eligible for full CalPERS retirement benefits. This opinion highlights the need for employers to be on high […]
Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) generally refers to health insurers’ efforts to structure enrollee cost-sharing and other health plan design elements to encourage enrollees to utilize high-value clinical services – those that have the greatest potential to positively affect their health.
A 58-year-old attorney had too much experience to seek an in-house legal position with a healthcare products company. In a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit—which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin—decision, the court considered whether the “disparate impact” provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) covers job applicants or only current […]
by Jeanine Poole New Hampshire’s requirements for employer safety programs are changing. Passed in June, House Bill 1587 goes into effect on January 1, 2013. The new law provides: Employers with 15 or more employees (formerly 10 or more employees) must have a written safety program filed with the New Hampshire Department of Labor (NHDOL). […]