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Tremendous cost-cutting and patient care improvements await insurers and plans that can leverage the recent gains of computing to improve patient self-management of care. The challenge is how to tap the big pools of data, and get “actionable” personalized results out to plan members so they can choose better, cheaper care and manage this care […]
The government’s costs to implement health care reform is expected to rise by $12 billion as a result of the recently announced delay in the employer mandate and information reporting requirements, according to a July 30 letter by the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation. In addition, the letter to the House […]
by Matthew Jacobson Changes to the Maine minimum wage law taking effect January 1 mean that the minimum wage for tipped workers will continue to be $5 an hour instead of rising $1 an hour like the minimum wage for workers who don’t receive tips. Maine voters approved Question 4 on the 2016 ballot. The […]
An African-American radio operator who claimed she suffered racial and sexual harassment by co-workers and supervisors at Aeronautical Radio Inc. has received a $600,000 award from an Alameda County jury. Charisse Rogers alleged that she was subjected to displays of pornography, inappropriate sexual comments, photos of employees in KKK garb, and frequent racial jokes and […]
Employees working in U.S. Senate cafeterias will receive more than $1 million in back wages after a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation found wage and hour violations.
Figuring out who’s exempt from the overtime rules and who isn’t can be very complicated. Impressive titles and salaries don’t count. Only the employee’s actual job duties matter. And of the four main exemptions-managerial, administrative, professional and sales-the administrative exemption is the least clear-cut. In fact, employers continue to reel from an epidemic of multi-million […]
Fiduciaries of 401(k) plans were reminded by a recent court decision that it’s best not to accept financial consultants’ investment advice for a retirement plan’s assets without careful scrutiny. At the same time the case, which raised other issues important to managing defined contribution plans, resulted in several rulings in the plan sponsor’s favor. Facts […]
The EEOC announced that international entertainment troupe Cirque du Soleil will pay $600,000 to settle a charge that it fired aerial gymnast Matthew Cusick for being HIV-positive, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The company claimed it believed his condition posed a direct threat to other performers, but the EEOC argued the decision […]
As employers continue to load more health care expenses onto workers, more than half (53%) of employees are still choosing a major medical plan based on factors that may have little to do with the total cost of health care for which they are increasingly responsible.
Credit reports can be a useful tool for screening job applicants, but using them recently became more complex. That’s because of several important changes to the federal Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act that are effective September 30, 1997. If you violate these provisions or a similar state law, you can be sued for steep penalties, […]