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News Notes: Workplace Injury And Illness Rates Decline

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 […]

Supreme Court Upholds Healthcare Reform Law

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 […]

Claims Adjusters Don’t Qualify for Overtime Exemption

Liberty Mutual’s claims adjusters investigated and estimated claims, made coverage determinations, negotiated settlements, and identified potential fraud. The claims adjusters sued the insurer for back overtime pay, claiming they were misclassified as exempt administrative employees. A California appeals court has now ruled in the employees’ favor, finding that they didn’t qualify for the administrative overtime […]

Legislation: Health Care Measure Wins Key Approval in State Senate

A measure to overhaul California’s ailing health care system by extending health insurance coverage to all Californians and requiring employers to share in the cost has won approval in the Senate Healthcare Committee. The measure would, among other things, require all employers that don’t offer employee health insurance to pay a payroll tax of 7.5 […]

October Corporate Pension Funding Levels Slip but Stay Above Record Low

Funding gains by U.S. corporate pension plans in September were erased in October, according to data Mercer Investment Consulting Inc. released Nov. 5.  Mercer reports that the aggregate deficit in pension plans S&P 1500 companies sponsored increased by $26 billion during the latest month, to $619 billion. This deficit corresponds to an aggregate funded ratio […]

News Notes: Government Reports Decline In Lost Workdays From Injury And Illness

Since 1992, according to the U.S. Bureau ofLabor Statistics, the number of lost workdays because of work-related injuriesand illnesses has steadily declined. The decrease from 2000 to 2001 was 7.6percent. And strains and sprains, which generally account forabout four out of 10 injuries involving lost workdays, declined by 34.5 percentfrom 1992 to 2001.