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The California Department of Insurance has approved a 10.1% hike in the average workers’ compensation pure premium rates. The increase takes effect July 1, 2002, and follows on the heels of a 10.2% increase that took effect in January 2002. Although the pure premium rate is only advisory and insurers aren’t required to follow the […]
Tomorrow, February 1, is the deadline for posting the Cal-OSHA Form 300A, annual summary log of injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2006. The form must remain posted until April 30, 2007. Even if you had no recordable injuries or illnesses in 2006, you must still post a summary with zeros in the total line. […]
Following on the heels of a recent California Supreme Court ruling that approved mandatory arbitration agreements for employment disputes, California appellate courts continue to enforce arbitration provisions between employers and employees. In the latest case, a California Court of Appeal required the arbitration of an employment claim even though the employee had never signed an […]
Changes to California’s disability bias laws, which took effect Jan. 1, 2001, broadened the class of disabled persons to include those with conditions that make a major life activity “difficult.” This new definition of a disability is a more lenient standard than the “substantial limitation” of a major life activity that was previously required under […]
Benefits administrators can be forgiven if their response to the IRS’ latest plan to issue guidance on cafeteria plans is “Promises, Promises!” Finalizing cafeteria plan regulations is the most far-reaching benefits-related item on the IRS 2011-2012 Priority Guidance Plan. The agency proposed café plan regs in 2007 and has been saying that it will finalize […]
The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that legislation be adopted to prohibit the use of cellular phones while driving, especially for inexperienced drivers. For guidance in adopting mobile phone use policies for your organization, see CEA September 2001.
According to one columnist, you really can’t fail in creating a workplace wellness program. Here’s a tool to help you do it. If one thing impressed us while writing our recent article on new HIPAA rules for workplace wellness programs, it was this quote from Indiana employment law attorney and business columnist Jim Jorgensen, as […]
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that the number of injuries and illnesses in private industry workplaces continued to edge down in 2001. The 2001 rate of 5.7 injury-and-illness cases per 100 full-time workers was not only an 8% decline from 2000 but also the lowest rate since the agency began reporting this […]
A psychiatrist suffering from attention deficit disorder has won $902,000 after suing his employer under state anti-discrimination laws for failing to accommodate his own psychological problems. Stanley Swenson Jr. worked at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for 15 years. He claimed his condition made it difficult for him to keep up with patient charts and […]
Reporting by Kyle Emshwiller and Jessica Webb-Ayer The wait is over: The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that the massive healthcare reform law (also known as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) enacted in March 2010 is constitutional. So what happened, and what does this mean for employers? The wait is over: The U.S. Supreme […]