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We’re Surveying Your Employees’ Attitudes Again … and Still at No Cost to You!
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR’s founder announces the 2008 edition of the National Employee Attitude Survey and invites you to find out more about your own workers’ attitudes and how they benchmark to others … at no cost to you. But we’d like you to join us by February 29, so please […]
News Notes: Supreme Court Update
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that wage and hour cases filed in state court under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act can be moved to federal court at an employer’s request. Employers might prefer to have a case heard in federal court for a number of reasons, including the higher standard applied to jury verdicts. […]
Top U.S. Court Takes Case to Resolve Limits on Health Plan Recoveries
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on June 25 to decide whether an employee health plan is subject to equitable limits when it demands reimbursement of benefits paid to care for a covered employee who also recovers money from third parties. A 2011 ruling on this issue by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals troubled […]
New Avian Flu Planning Guidance from OSHA
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released comprehensive new guidance for employers on how to prepare for an avian flu outbreak. The new guidance, which OSHA developed in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services, provides guidance for all types of workplaces, describes the differences between seasonal, avian, and pandemic […]
Workers’ Compensation: Insurance Commissioner Recommends Further Rate Reductions
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced he will recommend a 16.4 percent decrease in the workers’ compensation pure premium rate for policies starting on or after July 1, 2006. This recommendation is the latest in a string of recommended rate reductions since July 2003, when workers’ comp reforms went into effect. The cumulative recommended reductions […]
Short Takes: Deductions
Can I deduct an employee’s remaining debt from a final paycheck?
News Notes: New Website Helps Small Businesses Make Health Benefits Decisions
The California HealthCare Foundation has launched a new website to help small businesses make informed decisions about health benefits. The website, www.healthcoverageguide.org, includes a comprehensive checklist to guide you through the coverage selection process—from gathering the business records you’ll need to choosing a broker, comparing policies, estimating costs, and much more.
News Notes: IRS Clarifies Pension Amendment Notice Rules
The Internal Revenue Service has issued new regulations which clarify that plan administrators must provide 15 days’ written notice before the effective date of retirement plan amendments which result in a significant reduction in future benefit accrual. The rules apply to both defined benefit and money purchase plans. If some plan participants don’t receive notice […]
News Notes: Self-Insured Employer On The Hook For Insolvent Insurer’s Portion Of Workers’ Comp Benefits
As some workers’ comp insurers struggle to stay afloat, you may be wondering what would happen if yours became insolvent. In a recent case, a Denny’s employee’s work-related cumulative injury occurred over a one-year period that overlapped two months with the time Denny’s was self-insured for workers’ comp. During the other 10 months, Denny’s was […]