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Compensation & Benefits

Smoking-Cessation benefits expand productivity

02/01/2007

How much does having a smoker on staff add to your costs? On average, smoking breaks and higher health costs related to smoking cost employers the equivalent of nine weeks’ lost productivity per year …

Workplace violence: Florida law opens liability beyond workers’ comp

02/01/2007

Twelve percent of all violent crimes committed in the United States occur in the workplace. And Florida employers face unique legal challenges in their response to such violence …

Employees may be eligible for workers’ comp if they’re injured in accident while on call

02/01/2007

Ordinarily, an employee who is injured while off duty isn’t eligible for workers’ compensation for those injuries. But a recent Georgia court ruling has expanded liability to protect at least some employees who are hurt while on call …

Employees can’t sue you for libel over what’s said at unemployment comp hearings

02/01/2007

To protect employers from frivolous lawsuits and encourage open, honest communication, Georgia’s unemployment compensation law blocks people from suing their former employers over what the organization says during a hearing …

Bryant Transportation officials sued for unpaid insurance claims

02/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department recently sued Chatsworth-based Bryant Transportation Inc. and two company officers for more than $85,000 in unpaid claims under its self-insured health insurance plan …

Review your liability coverage for employee injuries

02/01/2007

Heads up: The New Jersey Supreme Court just decided an employer insurance case that may mean insurance carriers will change the way they write errors-and-omissions policies …

Beware personal liability for COBRA, FMLA, state bias law

02/01/2007

As if life in HR weren’t hard enough, a federal court has clarified when you may be held individually liable for mistakes in administering anti-discrimination and benefit laws …

Employee or volunteer? It matters in workers’ comp

02/01/2007

If your organization pays someone a small amount to perform extra tasks around your workplace, are they technically “employees”? Maybe … and that means you may be on the hook for workers’ compensation benefits if the person is hurt on the premises …

Rejecting light-duty offer can stop workers’ comp

02/01/2007

Employers can cut their workers’ comp costs by having injured employees return to work as soon as possible. That may mean offering them light-duty positions if they’re not ready to resume more demanding jobs. But what happens if an employee rejects your light-duty offer? …

Workers’ comp claim can’t be basis for Title VII retaliation

02/01/2007

One part of the federal law that bans job discrimination (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act) makes it illegal to retaliate against employees who engage in “protected activity,” such as filing a discrimination complaint. But here’s a key point to remember: That protected activity must be related to discrimination claims under Title VII …