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Insurance

Creative benefits help employees with cancer stay on the job

07/01/2007

Employees living with cancer increasingly are staying on the job, thanks to benefits like flexibility and intermittent, short-term disability insurance …

Align comp & benefits with phased-Retirement options

07/01/2007

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows employers to pay pension benefits to employees age 62 and older who are covered under a defined-benefit pension plan even if they continue to work. The change makes phased retirement a viable option for employers who want to keep their mature, experienced workers …

Profit sharing and ‘No walls’ management boost job referrals

07/01/2007

About 70% of all hires at Findley, Ohio-based hiring firm Right Thing come highly recommended by the organization’s own employees. What gets employees talking to their friends about joining the firm? It’s the company’s laid-back atmosphere—with no formal managers or departments—and an employee profit-sharing plan that involves half the company profits …

Largest insurer ties staff bonuses to customers’ health

07/01/2007

WellPoint, the largest U.S. health insurer (based on commercial membership), has tied part of its 42,000 employees’ annual bonuses to the health of its 34 million members …

Texas employers to receive unemployment-Tax refunds

07/01/2007

Texas employers who had paid taxes into the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund are set to receive approximately $320 million in refunds …

Workers’ comp department improves web forms

07/01/2007

The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation, recently improved the functionality of more than 90 forms posted on its web site …

Health-Care inflation ‘Good news’ is relative: Rate increases fall again, but still above 10%

06/19/2007

While health-care costs are forecast to rise at a slower pace in 2008, don’t get too excited: Those costs will still increase at a double-digit rate. Here are the numbers, plus three suggestions for ways to successfuly "sell" health-premium increases to employees.

As Same-Sex Unions Spread, So Do Job Protections

06/01/2007

New Hampshire last month voted to give same-sex couples the same legal rights as other couples, making New England the first region in which every state provides some sort of protection for the civil unions of same-sex partners …

Obesity equals higher absenteeism, workers’ comp costs

06/01/2007

A great deal of attention has focused on the direct health costs caused by obese employees. But a new Duke University Medical Center study shows obesity also takes a heavy toll on your workers’ comp costs and absenteeism rates …

Commuting injury not covered by workers’ compensation unless the route is hazardous

06/01/2007

Generally, Michigan employees aren’t entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for injuries that happen while driving to or from work. One exception is that for so-called “excessive exposure to traffic risks” …