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Insurance

Disability insurance kicks in on Day 1 at Virginia firm

09/05/2008

A short- and long-term disability-income protection plan kicks in the very day an employee starts work at Snagajob.com in Richmond, Va. The company pays 100% of the insurance, which lets employees receive 60% of their salary while on disability leave …

Budget for lower health cost growth in ’09

09/05/2008

Health care costs are expected to increase on average 10.6% in the next 12 months, the lowest percentage increase since 2001. That’s what Aon Consulting Worldwide found when it surveyed more than 70 health care insurers, representing more than 100 million insured individuals …

Rochester paralegal’s job goes up in smoke

09/03/2008

The Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, upheld the firing of Karen Kridel, a former paralegal with Dibble & Miller, PC, in Rochester, for taking smoking breaks. Kridel customarily took two five-minute breaks from her work each day to smoke …

Arrests begin following enactment of workers’ comp law

09/03/2008

The president and CEO of the Kingsbridge Heights Care Center was arrested in August and charged with failing to provide workers’ compensation insurance for more than 400 employees …

Aspen joins Vail, Intrawest in offering domestic partner benefits

09/02/2008
The Aspen Skiing Company has announced that it will offer domestic-partner benefits to its employees this fall. Health insurance and ski passes are among the benefits the company will extend to employees’ partners, regardless of their sex … 

Handling layoffs with workers’ comp claims pending

09/02/2008
Q. We need to lay off an entire shift at our assembly plant. A few of these workers are off work or on temporary light-duty jobs as a result of on-the-job injuries. They have workers’ comp claims pending. If we lay off the entire shift, can we lay off the injured workers as well? …

Factor Lower Health Care Cost Growth into 2009 Budgets

08/26/2008
Health care costs are expected to increase on average 10.6% in the next 12 months, the lowest percentage increase since 2001. Here are the stats you need to make smart business decisions about the health plan  you choose for your employees.

Underpaying claims will cost health insurer $255 million

08/25/2008
The insurance firm Health Net will pay $255 million to settle three class-action lawsuits alleging it used a flawed database that sometimes under-reimbursed members’ insurance claims …

Keep daily injury logs to ensure legit workers’ comp claims

08/22/2008
Employees who hurt themselves at work sometimes wait weeks or even months before filing a workers’ compensation claim. What at first seems like a relatively harmless injury can flare into a debilitating condition months later. Such late claims put employers at a serious disadvantage …

Track which employees have access to hazardous areas

08/22/2008
If your organization manufactures products, your employees probably come in contact with hazardous chemicals or solvents from time to time. Of course, you follow OSHA guidelines and make sure employees on the production line use adequate protective gear. But what if an employee who works in the front office decides her lung or other health problems are work related and files for workers’ compensation? …