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Insurance

Workers’ comp for off-Site accidents during breaks?

08/21/2008
Q. Some of our employees leave the premises during their 10-minute breaks during the day. If they get into accidents, is the company at risk? — G.F., Colorado …

5 Steps for Communicating Benefits Changes

08/19/2008

As your organization shifts more responsibility to employees to manage their own health and retirement expenses, you risk alienating your work force. But it doesn’t have to be that way …

Document all efforts to accommodate disabled workers

08/15/2008
Employees who claim they suffered emotional distress because of illegal disability discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act don’t have to rely solely on the workers’ compensation system to adjudicate their claims. They can go to court instead, suing for negligent infliction of emotional distress under state common law …

Can severance agreement rule out seeking unemployment comp?

08/12/2008
Q. In exchange for severance benefits, we would like a departing employee to promise not to file a claim for unemployment compensation. Can this be a term of our severance agreement? …

Workers’ comp may cover injury that occurs on vacation

08/11/2008
If you require certain employees to stay in good physical shape and pass regular fitness tests, a recent court ruling raises this key question: Could your organization be on the hook for workers’ compensation bneefits if the employee gets hurt while working out during a vacation?

Court addresses workers’ comp physician conflict of interest

08/05/2008
In a case that could have complicated workers’ compensation cases in Colorado, the Court of Appeals of Colorado has decided to allow physicians to do limited work for insurance carriers while still performing independent medical examinations on employees whose employers are insured by the same carrier …

New bill gives unemployed Texans 13 more weeks of benefits

08/04/2008
The Texas Workforce Commission recently announced that federally funded unemployment insurance (UI) benefits will be extended for 13 weeks. On June 30, President Bush signed legislation authorizing Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation …

Bryan-Based MIWU sued for mismanagement of health fund

08/04/2008
The U.S. Department of Labor has sued an employer association, a health fund trustee and the fund’s consultant over allegedly imprudent management of the Manufacturing and Industrial Workers Union (MIWU) Benefit Fund of Bryan, Texas …

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act finally becomes law

08/04/2008
President Bush recently signed into law H.R. 493, also known as the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits employers from using genetic tests or information to discriminate against applicants and employees …

Ease pain of health benefits cuts with less costly perks

08/01/2008
Quell employee grumbling about their increasing health care premiums and deductibles by offering other popular benefits that cost the company less. Organizations may be shifting more of health care costs to employees, but they’re filling the gaps with perks such as telework and training for nonjob-related skills …