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The state Insurance Commissioner has taken over control of Golden Eagle Insurance Co., California’s third largest workers’ compensation carrier. The action grew out of concerns about Golden Eagle’s financial solvency. The Insurance Commissioner is optimistic that several insurers will join together to operate Golden Eagle’s business through a new company, San Diego Casualty Insurance Co. […]
On May 22, CMS issued guidance (registration required) describing how plans, third-party administrators and insurers will pay reinsurance contributions required under health care reform for the next three years. The guidance says a contributing entity can complete all required steps for the reinsurance contributions process on Pay.gov, including registration, submission of the annual enrollment count and remittance of […]
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals about 30 minutes ago issued a ruling that forcing Americans to purchase health insurance, a key element of the 2010 health reform law, is unconstitutional. The court however allowed the rest of the law stand (including preventive care, dependent care and preexisting condition mandates), overturning the lower court on […]
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up several workplace-related cases this year. In one, the court will review a Ninth Circuit ruling regarding the type of evidence a terminated employee can use to prove job discrimination when an employer has both legitimate and illegal reasons for the discharge. Other cases on the court’s docket involve […]
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new fact sheet explaining how federal nondiscrimination laws apply to employer tests and other selection procedures—such as personality tests, medical exams, and credit checks—used to screen applicants for hire and employees for promotion. The fact sheet also spotlights “best practices” employers can follow to avoid […]
888 Seafood Restaurant, a Chinese eatery in the San Gabriel Valley, has agreed to pay $306,500 in overtime back wages following a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation that revealed pay improprieties. The funds will be shared by 57 employees who routinely put in additional work time after they clocked out, according to the DOL. […]
We’ve talked a lot about the importance of employee satisfaction in recruitment and retention efforts. Turnover and hiring are expensive, and companies can’t afford to keep losing their staff over low levels of satisfaction. However, there is a strong argument in favor of promoting employee satisfaction on the flip side as well.
by Connor Beatty On November 3, voters in Portland and Bangor rejected attempts to raise the minimum wage in those cities. In Portland, voters rejected a proposal that would have increased the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. The ordinance would have required all businesses and franchises employing 500 or more employees to raise […]
Those cases include General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. v. Cline, where the high court will consider whether the federal age-bias law permits employees over age 40 to sue because other workers also over age 40 were treated more favorably based on age. In Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez, the justices will decide whether the Americans with […]
Last week, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that would further extend the federal COBRA subsidy created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213), which passed the Senate by a 62-36 vote, would extend the subsidy to individuals who were involuntarily terminated […]