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Insurance

State sets 2007 benefit levels for UI, disability and workers’ comp

11/01/2006

The New Jersey Department of Labor recently announced the 2007 benefit levels for unemployment insurance, disability insurance and workers’ compensation. Under New Jersey law, those benefits are adjusted annually, based on fluctuations in the statewide average weekly wage …

More states require insurance firms to cover certain medical tests, treatments

11/01/2006

Despite calls for a moratorium on such mandates, state legislatures continue to require that insurance companies cover specific tests and treatments, which leads to increases in employer health premiums …

Workers’ comp liability for aging employees

11/01/2006

Q. One of our employees is over age 70 and has had a broken foot, memory problems and a recent car wreck that caused some residual problems. Should we allow her to work? What can we do (if anything) to protect ourselves from potential workers’ comp claims should she injure herself?

Opting out of workers’ comp? You risk negligence lawsuit

10/01/2006

The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which regulates employee benefit plans, usually covers employees’ claims related to their benefits. However, Texas employers who opt out of the state workers’ compensation program may receive a nasty surprise …

Outsourcing training? You’ll still pay for injuries

10/01/2006

If you outsource employee training programs that include self-defense or other physically demanding work, be aware that the waivers signed by your employees may mean you will have to pay for any injuries …

On-the-job fatalities increase in Texas, bucking national trend

10/01/2006

Texas employers recorded 495 fatal occupational injuries last year, compared to 440 fatalities in 2004, a 12.5 percent increase, according to a newly released annual report from the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) …

New workers’ comp rules on medical peer reviews

10/01/2006

The Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission recently adopted new rules to clarify the qualifications and functions of designated doctors and peer reviewers in the Texas workers’ comp system …

You may soon need a lawyer at unemployment comp hearings

10/01/2006

It’s enough to give employers a case of whiplash. First, Pennsylvania courts said corporate employers couldn’t hire nonlawyers to help them at unemployment compensations hearings. Then the legislature reversed course, passing a law that OK’d nonlawyer representation. That should have been the end of the issue, but not yet …

Arkansas ‘Race Across State’ Contest Promotes Exercise

09/01/2006

Employees from about three dozen public and private organizations in Arkansas are participating in a virtual race across the state as part of the Arkansas Fitness Challenge created by the state Department of Health and Blue Cross and Blue Shield …

California’s paid family leave law turns 2

09/01/2006

California employees are paying into a two-year-old paid family leave fund, yet only 29 percent know it, says a new study by the Paid Family Leave Coalition …